Louboutins in Lima
by ladidai
Summary: AU. Out of control Broadway diva Rachel Berry is sent to a small town in the mid-west to gain some perspective. She is not amused. Lima loser Finn Hudson's not too happy about it either.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Louboutins in Lima

A/N: So, I guess I completely lied when I said I wouldn't get around to this story for a while. Sue me.

Two notes about this story: One, I always wondered why Hiram and Leroy didn't move Rachel to New York to help her fulfill her dreams even as they were doing so many other things for her, so in this story they did. So, no Glee never had Rachel and Rachel never had the Glee club. Two, Hiram and Leroy Berry were friends with Carole and Christopher Hudson before they moved to New York.

Don't own Glee, just playing with it, thrice.

Crude language and extreme wordiness ahead. Ye Be Warned.

* * *

"Next up on TMZ we have the young Broadway diva Rachel Berry giving a surprise to a group of her most favorite people, the paparazzi. This user submitted video was taken this morning, the day after she attended and performed at the Tony Awards."

A grainy video shows a stylishly dressed, but clearly hung-over, Rachel Berry stumbling into a 7-Eleven. The video speeds up and Rachel is next seen slowly walking out of the store greedily drinking a cup of coffee while carrying a large Slurpee in the other hand. She pauses to pose for the photographers who have gathered around the entrance. She smiles brightly as the cameras go off and moves her arms around in different poses. The photographers in the back of the crowd push their way forward which causes one of the ones in the front to bump into Rachel. The smile falls off her face.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Sorry, Ms. Berry. It was an accident."

A dangerous looking smirk appears on Rachel's face. Rachel throws the Slurpee at the photographer, covering him in the orange drink.

"Oops, it was an accident."

The photographer wipes his face off and then tries to clean off his camera as best he can as the rest of the photographers stare at Rachel.

"What's everyone looking at? Are you going to do something about it? Oh that's right," She flashed a smile, "I'm a Broadway star, you're supposed to be looking at me and you won't do anything about it."

The grainy version of Rachel begins to walk away and is paused in mid-step.

A middle aged African-American male placed the remote control he was holding down on his living room table and pursed his lips. He turned his head towards the door when he heard it open and close.

"Hey, Leroy."

"Hello Hiram. Welcome home."

"Is something wrong? You seem upset."

Leroy sighed and patted the seat next to him.

"Come sit down next to me, I want to show you something."

"Can I change first?"

"Yes, it would probably be better if you were comfortable for this."

Hiram left the room for a few minutes before returning in a more comfortable outfit and sitting down next to his husband. Leroy grabbed the remote control, rewound the DVR to the correct time, and started the video again. When it finished Hiram grabbed Leroy's hand and looked over at him.

"What was that?"

"I don't know."

"Please tell me that was a fake."

"Hiram, we've heard the rumors so we both know that it's not."

They both paused the conversation as they thought about things.

"Hiram, what are we going to do about this?"

"I don't know. I just want my little Rachel back."

"I do too, but we both know that it's not just going to happen. We need to do something."

"Like what?"

Leroy dropped his head in thought for a few moments and then raised it.

"We need to stage an intervention. We need to get our Rachel back."

"How?"

"First we call Jessica."

Leroy picked up his iPhone and scrolled through his list of contacts before finding the right one. He brought the phone up to his ear and waited for the other person to pick up.

"Hello Jessica, it's Leroy."

"Leroy! How are you and what can I do for you today?"

"I'm fine. I just need to talk with you."

He heard her sigh. "TMZ right?"

"Yes, I assume you've seen the video?"

"I have and I'm taking care of it. You and Leroy don't have to worry about a thing."

"We're not worrying about you doing your part. We both know you're one of the best in the business but we're worried about Rachel."

"There's nothing to worry about she's just going through a wild phase. Everyone does it."

"No, Jessica. You've been her agent since she was seven so you've seen firsthand how she's changed. I didn't recognize the Rachel I saw on TV, that is not the little girl Hiram and I raised."

Leroy heard nothing for a few moments except Jessica's slow breathing.

"You're right, she has been getting worse and worse."

"I think we need to stage an intervention of some sort."

"You want to ship Rachel off to LA or Hawaii? Or stick her in a center here?"

Leroy laughed sadly. "No, not Hawaii, LA, or New York. I think something more, ah, intimate is in order and I've got somewhere special in mind."

"Intimate eh? Hmm, should I begin the prep work to pull Rachel from her show?"

"Yes, I need to you to begin preparations for Rachel to take some time off her show as soon as possible. I'll let you know the details as soon as I figure the rest of them out."

"I'll write up something for the press as well."

"See, this is why you're the best in the business."

Leroy heard her chuckle for a moment.

"Do you want me to tell her?"

"No, don't tell Rachel. I'll do that."

"Okay. I'll get things started."

"Goodbye Jessica."

"Bye Leroy."

Leroy hung up the phone and looked through her contact list again for a new name.

"Now who are you calling?"

Leroy winked and smiled at Hiram before he brought the phone to his ear again.

"Hello Carole."

Hiram's eyes widened in surprise.

"I have a large favor to ask of you."

* * *

A/N 2: As you can see, Rachel will be extremely OOC, especially around the start of the story. We'll see signs of the Rachel we know and love as the story goes along but she'll never be the same person as she is on Glee.

A note to the people who have read my previous multi-chapter story. Danny Boyle has said that the first film you make will always be your best and you're always trying to get back to that point. After writing two stories and starting this third one, I understand where he's coming from. I know that this story won't be as epic as or as good as Those Days because I no longer feel that sense of urgency to get it out. I guess that's the difference between needing and wanting to write a story. Hopefully, I can approach the quality I had but I can't guarantee anything since in no way will this story be original. If you squint a little you'll see that this story will have your generic rom-com storyline. This also means I will be much slower with updates on this story. Sorry, no 6,000+ word chapters every four days.

If you have the time, please leave a review.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing.

Also, I'm making Lima a bit smaller than it actually is in real life. I've also added something to the first chapter to give this story a time reference. If you're too lazy to go back and read the extra sentence, the first chapter takes place the day after the Tony Awards.

* * *

Finn Hudson looked over at his offensive coordinator, read the signs for the next play, and cracked a crooked grin.

The flea-flicker was the perfect call.

They had been pounding the rock a lot and Michigan couldn't stop it at all. Michigan was starting to drop an eighth man into the box trying to stop the run but that left them wide open for a deep pass. This play would put the nail in the coffin for this game and bring THE Ohio State one step closer towards the BCS National Championship game, one step closer out of Lima for Finn Hudson.

He walked over to the huddle, took a knee, and looked up at his teammates.

"Okay, flea-flicker on one, flea-flicker on one."

Finn looked around and saw grins on their faces. They all knew this play would work; they had practiced it all week just for a moment like this. He caught Mike Chang's eyes and nodded, they both knew that Mike would be the first option Finn would look for on this play.

"Ready? Break!"

Finn clapped his hands once along with the rest of his offense and stood up. He let his offensive linemen walk past him as be buttoned his chinstrap before turning around to walk towards the line of scrimmage.

It was loud in the stadium. Too loud.

Finn loved playing in the Shoe cause the fans were awesome and knew football so when he flapped his arms a few times, the crowd nearly went silent. All he heard from the crowd was a low buzz which always reminded him of the awesome times he had singing up on stage. He almost had as much fun playing football as he did up on stage. Too bad they were never really good enough to get anywhere. They were always missing that special something to bring everyone and everything together.

Those thoughts were quickly pushed aside as he stepped behind his center and scanned the defense in front of him. Just like Coach drilled into him, he quickly found the middle linebacker.

He pointed at the linebacker and shouted, "Fifty-six is Mike! Fifty-six is Mike!"

His center in front of him screamed out the protection calls while he put in his mouth guard. Michigan's strong safety had walked down to the right side of the line of scrimmage which was cool cause that meant the play would definitely work now. But, that also meant he needed to adjust the protection in case the safety blitzed.

Finn pointed at the safety and yelled, "Jet 2!"

His center turned his head to the right and agreed with him. "Jet 2! Jet 2!"

Finn scanned the defense one last time to make sure he hadn't missed anything, then crouched down behind his center and stuck his hands out to receive the ball.

"Hut. HUT!"

The football smacked into Finn's hands as he closed them around it and pulled out from behind center. He quickly made sure he had a good grip on the ball with his left hand, turned around, and extended it out to hand it off to his running back. Finn watched the ball until his running back had it safely tucked in his arms just like he was taught then turned around and quickly sneaked a look at the free safety who had dropped down to cover the tight end.

Finn looked back down in time to see the running back turn around and throw the ball back to him. He followed the ball into his hands with his eyes then turned his gaze upfield to find Mike. The well practiced hands he had quickly spun the ball around until his right hand found the laces and he brought his arm up into a textbook throwing position as he scanned the field.

His eyes found Mike as the wide out was streaking up along the left sideline. Mike was the perfect deep threat. All that dancing he did in his room at home and on stage back in high school really paid off on the football field. With his quick hands and feet he was almost always able to get a clean release from the line and that let his long strides take him past any corner who was covering him, just like they were doing on this play.

The clock inside Finn's head screamed at him to get rid of the ball, but he was a big guy, he could take the hit that was coming. He just didn't want to throw the ball too soon or else the corner would have a chance to knock the ball away, so he fearlessly stood tall in the pocket just like his favorite quarterbacks always did. He just needed to wait a few more moments for Mike to get even with his man. If Mike couldn't do it in time, he'd just get rid of the ball by throwing it to his tight end who could beat the pants off the safety trying to cover him.

There, that was it; Mike was even with his man which meant he would be leaving that sucker behind. Finn planted his feet, pulled his arm back to throw the ball, and heard the crowd as it began to roar in excitement. Everyone in the stadium knew what was coming. Finn Hudson to Mike Chang had become legendary at the Shoe in just a year.

He felt someone hit him on the right side of his left leg just before he felt someone else hit him on the left side of his chest and he heard a loud snap.

Crap.

Coach was going to kill him. He had taken too long waiting for the perfect play instead of taking the play that was good enough. Stupid, stupid, stupid Finn. He still had one job to do though; he held onto the ball tightly and tucked it up against his body. Coach really would kill him if he fumbled the ball again, or at least make him carry around a football around everywhere, and Coach really did mean everywhere, for four months like he had to do freshman year.

He closed his eyes and groaned as he hit the ground, not cause it hurt, even if it did hurt like hell to be hit by a dude that weighed around 300 pounds. He groaned because he knew he had messed up the play and there was no one to blame but himself.

Finn heard a scream and opened his eyes. What he saw kinda scared him. One of the guys who sacked him, number 98, had leapt up and was screaming and waving his arms trying to get the attention of the Ohio State sideline. He saw his teammates look down at him and then look away as soon as possible. He swallowed and looked down.

He had no idea what they were called, but he saw the two broken bones of his lower leg sticking out of his skin. He stared at the bits of skin hanging off his leg and bones for a long moment before he took a deep breath. As he stared, a thought quickly ran through his mind: his body was totally cool cause he didn't feel a single bit of pain.

Finn opened his mouth and woke up to his own blood curdling scream.

The basement went quiet except for the usual creaks and groans as the scream died in his throat. He brought his hand up to his face and rubbed away the sleep from his eyes since he knew he could never get back to sleep after having the nightmare. He just hoped that it wasn't too early in the morning; he hated when he woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't get any sleep.

A quick glance at his phone told him that it was only half an hour before his alarm was supposed to go off and he breathed a sigh of relief, working on no sleep really sucked. He threw off Kurt's fancy and really expensive comforter and bed sheet, switched on the funky looking lamp next to the bed, and swung his legs to the floor to sit up. He reached down and rubbed his left leg, which was always sore after he had the nightmare. The docs told him that his leg must be tensing during the nightmare or something like that, not that he really paid attention to them anymore.

Kurt called him sadistic - at least he thinks Kurt called him that - for doing this, but he couldn't help himself as he looked down at his left leg as he rubbed it. He saw and felt the two scars where the bones had been sticking out and the lines of scars that ran up and down his leg from the surgeries that were supposed to make everything right again.

Right.

Finn didn't even know what that word meant anymore. Nothing much had ever gone right in his life and it anything that did go right quickly went wrong.

After his moment of self-pity, Finn took a deep breath and let it out before he ran through his morning routine: bathroom, jog, shower, and breakfast. He grabbed the note from his mom on the kitchen table as he made his way back to the basement. It said something about a guest coming over this afternoon, whatever, nothing he needed to care about.

It was a little early to go into work but there was always something that needed to be done, so he opened Kurt's closet and grabbed a uniform he never dreamed of wearing. He pulled on the coveralls with the name "Finn" embroidered on it and a sewn on patch that read "Hummel's Auto and Tire." He laced up his worn work boots and made his way out of the house to his used, late model Ford F-150. As he got in his truck, he tried not to think about the fact that he had been woken up by the nightmare because he always seemed to have a bad day when it happened.

He turned the ignition key and nothing happened.

"Crap."

Finn groaned as his head hit the headrest, today was definitely going to be a bad day.

* * *

Today was going to be a great day for Rachel Berry.

Well, it would be great once her hangover disappeared, but a large cup of coffee and a bunch of aspirin would take care of that. Her extremely tinted Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses helped too. At least Jessica had finally stopped droning endlessly on and on about rehab or something as they made their way to the airport. Rachel loved her like a sister but seriously, enough was enough.

It wasn't that Rachel didn't love performing on Broadway; in fact she felt the freest when she was up on stage. But there was just no way she was going to decline a few weeks stay at some cushy rehab center on the west coast or maybe even Hawaii. It would be spectacular to lounge around on a beach all day sipping mimosas and mai tais. Now, if only her pounding headache would go away. All the noise in the airport was definitely not helping.

Of course, Rachel had prepared for this. She reached into her purse, pulled out a pair of earplugs, and pushed them into her ears blocking out all the noise as they walked out of the security checkpoint. Jessica's eyes rolled when Rachel pointed at her ears and shook her head after Jessica tried to figure out if she wanted to eat something before the flight. Even if she was hungry, there weren't many vegan options at the airport.

The earplugs stayed in and the sunglasses were swapped for a sleeping mask when they got on to the plane and they settled into their first class seats. Rachel had seen and heard enough safety speeches on flights that she could do a much better job than the flight attendants ever could. She thought about it for a quick moment before popping two sleeping pills into her mouth. They definitely would make the flight go faster and the headache just wouldn't go away.

The jolt of the plane landing woke Rachel up. She pulled off the mask, cracked an eye open and smiled when she realized she no longer had a pounding headache. She stretched her limbs out and smacked Jessica in the face with her right arm. Rachel returned Jessica's glare with a smile and shrug of her shoulders while she pulled out her earplugs.

"Come on, let's go Jessica! I can't wait to lounge around on a beach!"

Jessica shook her head. "You haven't paid attention to a single word I've said this morning have you?"

Rachel flashed a bright smile. "What's there to pay attention to? I'm going to rehab and I'm going to love it!"

Jessica grinned. "Yes, I think you just might."

Rachel grabbed her purse and carry-on bag, raced off the plane, and skidded to a stop when she didn't see two hula girls with leis waiting for her and endless amounts of tourists wearing Hawaiian shirts.

"This isn't Hawaii."

"No, it isn't." Jessica said as she walked up behind Rachel and threw her arm around Rachel's shoulders, "Let's go get your baggage."

They started walking towards baggage claim and Rachel's eyes darted around trying to find a clue as to their location.

"Where are we? LA? Seattle? DC? Houston? New Orleans?"

Rachel felt Jessica pulling her closer. "See, this is why you should pay attention to your manager slash agent more often. I do say important things every now and then."

Rachel rolled her eyes and smiled. "Maybe once or twice. So, where are we?"

"It's a secret." Rachel let out a huff, "You'll find out soon enough."

They followed the signs above their heads and made their way to carousel #5 where their baggage would turn up after its own trip.

She felt Jessica lean into her. "How's the head?"

"Much better."

"Maybe you shouldn't have been partying until the crack of dawn the night before your flight."

"Where's the fun in that? Plus, it was my going away party! Everyone from the cast I care about was there. I had to make the most of it! You know," She looked up at Jessica and winked, "Before I make the most of rehab."

Jessica looked down at her and rolled her eyes, "You know, rehab isn't a twenty-four seven party where you drink all day long."

She grinned up at her agent. "I know, I know. I'll probably only have 20 hours of the day to drink and party. I do need _some_ sleep after all."

Jessica shook her head. "You see your bags yet?"

"I only see one." Rachel's eyes kept scanning the conveyor belt, "The damn airline better not have lost one of my bags or there will be hell to pay."

One loud fight with the Delta Airlines baggage claim office later over the missing bag, Rachel had finally been calmed down enough by Jessica so they could make their way out of the airport to a waiting car.

"Where are we? It doesn't look like we're near a major city."

The driver looked over after putting Rachel's bag into the truck. "Well ma'am, we're at the Cleveland International Airport. Don't know if Cleveland is major enough for you, but we're pretty close to that."

"Cleveland? Why are we in Cleveland?"

"Rachel, your fathers have decided that you need some time away from New York and I agree with them. So, here we are. Well, here you are. I need to go back inside and catch my connecting flight to LA."

"You're not coming with me to the rehab center?"

"No, I won't be going with you to the," She made quotation marks with her fingers as she spoke the next two words, "Rehab center."

Rachel cocked her head. "Why'd you do that?"

"Because the rehab center you're going to isn't exactly your conventional facility."

Rachel narrowed her eyes. "Then what kind of facility is it?"

Jessica tapped a finger on her chin for a few times before responding.

"Let's just say it's a more intimate facility, where you'll really get to know the people there." Jessica began pushing Rachel towards the car, "Now, into the car, you're already running late. Not that you've ever minded, but it'd be nice if you were close to being on time just this once."

"But, I don't want to go to Cleveland! Who would ever want to go to rehab in Cleveland?"

Jessica cracked a grin. "Who said anything about Cleveland? Off you go."

"But, I don't want to!" Rachel walked over to Jessica and stamped her foot, "I want to go back to New York!"

Jessica arched an eyebrow. "Did you just stamp your foot at me?"

"Err. No?" Rachel took a few steps back and tears began to build in her eyes, "It's just that I miss my daddies already! And Broadway! I even miss you Jess and you're right here! Can I go to LA with you?" Clasped hands were brought up to her chest, "Please?"

She found no sympathy from Jessica.

"Rachel, I've been your manager for over a decade. I know you can cry on cue and I can definitely tell that you're acting right now." Rachel stopped her tears, "Let's just say that's not the best performance you've ever given."

Rachel scrunched up her face. "Fine."

Jessica pointed at the open door. "Now get in the car, it'll take you to where you need to go and nowhere else. And don't even think about trying to get back to New York on your own. We've put a stop on all your credit cards."

Rachel's jaw dropped. "Wha- Why would you do that?"

Her agent's hand found her shoulder. "Because you need this."

"How am I going to pay for things?"

"Oh I don't think you'll need to worry about that."

The hand turned her around and gently guided her towards the car. Rachel got in and the driver closed the door behind her. She pushed the button to lower and window and stuck her head out.

"How long am I going to be there?"

"For as long as you need to be," Jessica leaned over and poked Rachel in the nose. "Oh and I know this'll be hard for you, but could you try and keep a low profile? We put out a story that you're actually in LA taking some time off."

"I'll try, but I can't promise anything."

Rachel watched as Jessica walked back into the airport before putting on her seatbelt. The driver's door opened and slammed shut and she felt the car begin to move.

"I demand to know where you're taking me."

"I'm sorry ma'am. I'm not allowed to tell you."

"Let me guess, I bet you're not allowed to tell me how long the drive is either." Rachel sardonically said.

"No ma'am, I can tell you that the drive will be about three hours."

"Three hours? Are you kidding me?"

"No ma'am. I am not."

Rachel groaned as her head hit the headrest, today was not going according to plan at all.

* * *

Considering how his day had started, Finn was having a pretty good day after all.

After getting a ride with Burt, he drove the shop's tow truck back home to bring his pick-up to the shop where, luckily, they had a replacement for the starter. He quickly swapped the broken part for the new one and got started with the day's work. The morning flew by pretty quickly since all the work that needed to be done was pretty simple. He was able to bang out half a dozen work orders before lunch, which was awesome. Then the cute worker at the deli had given him a free pickle and bag of chips with his sandwich, which made his day even better.

"Dude, when are you going to ask the chick who works at the deli to go out with you?"

"What?" Finn said before he popped a couple of chips into his mouth.

"The chick. At the deli. She wants you. That's why she gave you all that extra shit and Puckasaurus got bupkis."

"I think if you stopped calling yourself Puckasaurus in front of her you might get free stuff every once in a while."

Puck took a bite of his sandwich before responding. "Whatever, just ask her out."

"Nah, I'm cool."

"Dude, you haven't gone out with a chick since Lisa dumped you." Finn felt a punch on his shoulder, "It's time to get back in the game."

"What the fuck man? What'd I tell you about saying her name?"

"Yea, yea, you told me never to talk about the bitch again. But it's been months. You need to move the fuck on."

"I have moved on." Finn took a bite out of sandwich, "I just don't want to ask the deli girl out."

Puck looked at him like he was crazy. "Why the hell not? She's cute and she's got a killer body. I've seen you staring at her tits and more importantly, she's seen you staring at her tits and she still gives you free shit."

Another bite. "I'm not asking her out."

"If you don't, I'm going to take her."

Finn shrugged his shoulders and polished off his sandwich. "Whatever man, she's all yours."

There was no way the deli girl would ever go out with either of them and Finn knew it. He was pretty sure she was only back in Lima during her summer break from some college on the west coast. A girl like that just didn't date Lima losers like Finn or Puck, no matter how much free food she gave them.

A sandwich wrapper smacked Finn on the side of his head.

"You want that extra bag of chips?"

"They're mine." He threw his wrapper at Puck and hit the target he had painted between his friend's eyes.

He'd been friends with Puck long enough to know the guy would make a lunge for his chips, so he snatched them away and poured them all into his mouth before Puck's arm had made it halfway across the table outside the auto shop.

"Not fair dude."

Finn was too busy munching on chips to respond.

"Where's your step-brother man? Isn't he usually back from New York by now?"

"Yea, but he got an internship at some fancy clothing place so he won't be back this summer, just me and Burt at the shop now."

Puck nodded and looked around. "Looks like he's gonna make it out of this shithole."

Finn turned his head left and looked off at small stores lining one of the three major streets in town. "Yea, he never looked back once he transferred to Dalton."

"Lucky him."

"He deserves it with all the shit he went through."

"Whatever dude, high school was awesome. We ruled that shit."

Finn turned to look at Puck. "Yea, it was so awesome that you wound up as a bartender and I'm working as a mechanic. Real fucking awesome."

"Fuck you man. I like bartending."

"No, you like the women at the bar. The drinks you make are shit, you suck at bartending."

"So what? Who needs to know how to make drinks and I can talk to all the hot MILFs there?"

Finn shook his head. "I guess you don't." He checked his cheap watch, "I gotta get back to work man. See you later."

They both stood up.

"You coming by the bar tonight?"

"Maybe, we'll see."

"Come on, everyone's gonna be there. This is the last summer they'll be here since you know, they'll all be off doing shit next summer."

"Yea, I know. I'll try to make it."

"If you do come, make sure you aren't being a fucking downer. It's fucking depressing."

"Fuck off."

"You got it." Puck turned around and left Finn standing in front of the auto shop.

The afternoon at the auto shop went just as well as the morning had. He had gotten ahead in his work so he could take his time with the stuff that needed to be done, but he still worked pretty hard since he could probably take care of some stuff that needed to be tomorrow. Plus, it got kinda boring at the shop if he didn't have anything to do.

He grabbed a bottle of water and went outside to take a little break from his current job, that damn solenoid replacement was giving him way too much trouble. He let his eyes wander the street as he drank his water, wondering if he should go see his old high school friends tonight at the bar. On one hand, it would be nice to see them again since it'd almost been a year since he'd seen them. On the other, it would suck to hear them talking about the things they were going to do while he was stuck in Lima. That would only depress him and they'd all notice and it'd be all awkward, just like after his injury.

Those thoughts were momentarily set aside when he saw a strange sight driving down the street. It was a black Lincoln Town Car. He was pretty sure no one in town drove one of those and it had tags that said "For Hire." Finn wondered who could possibly be in that car and why they would ever be driving through a town like Lima.

The vibrating cell phone in his pocket interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey mom. What's up?"

"Are you on your way home yet?"

"What? Why would I be on my way home?"

"Finn, did you read the note I left you this morning?"

"The one about the guest coming over?"

"Yes, I asked you to come home early so you could meet them."

He took a drink of water.

"Uh, I kinda skimmed over it. Didn't sound like something I needed to worry about."

"Just come home right now. Our guest is running a little late anyway, so hopefully you'll get here in time."

"Okay. Let me tell dad and then I'm on my way."

"See you soon honey."

"Bye mom."

Finn found Burt sitting in the office of the shop going over paperwork.

"Hey dad, mom said I needed to be home this afternoon."

Burt looked up. "Yea. I thought you already left. I'll head out soon once I finish these invoices. I swear, they give me more trouble than any real work ever did."

"You know that's what you have to do though."

"Yea, I know." Burt chuckled, "Doesn't mean I can't complain about it right?"

Finn let a smile creep onto his face at Burt's joke. "Right. See you at home."

As Finn walked through the work area of the shop, he look over at all the incomplete work orders and realized that he hadn't finished what he had to do for the day, which meant he'd have to work extra hard tomorrow. This guest had better be worth it. He really didn't want to stay late tomorrow to get everything done.

So, much for a bad day turning out fine.

* * *

Rachel's day had become worse and worse.

First, the driver said he was only allowed to make one restroom stop and Rachel hated being cooped up. Second, the battery on her iPhone had died an hour into the trip which meant no music and no contact with the outside world for two hours. Third and finally, without her music she was forced to stare out the window for the rest of the trip and all she saw was her surroundings becoming more and more rural. Jessica and her dads knew she was a big city girl, why the heck did they have to send her out into the country for this?

"Ma'am, we're just about there."

"Really? Thank God. I'm about to die from boredom back here."

In the rear view mirror, she saw the driver roll his eyes. When she turned her head to look back out her window she saw a sign that said, "Welcome to Lima. Population 3,367."

"Lima? We're going to Lima?"

"It's Lie-Ma, not Lee-Ma, ma'am."

"Whatever. We're going to Lie-Ma? What the heck is in Lima?"

"Ah, not much. The town is pretty much based around the factory that builds tanks."

"Tanks? Like fish tanks? Or fuel tanks?"

"No ma'am. Tanks like the tanks you go to war in."

"Oh."

This was perfect, just perfect. A town that built war machines and nothing else. God knows what kind of people Rachel would find there. She would bet that none of them had even heard of Broadway or could appreciate the wonder and genius that musical theatre was.

It looked like they had finally reached the main part of the city, if you could even call it that. It was a six lane road with two lanes reserved for parking. There were plenty of small shops on either side that all looked pretty basic: grocery and clothing stores, a bar, a deli, a post office and whatever else a town would need. There was even a car repair shop with a giant grease monkey of a man outside, guzzling a bottle of water and talking on his cell phone. Well, at least they had cell phones here.

"What is this? Main Street?" She muttered.

"Yes ma'am. This is Main Street. It's the largest street in town."

"You're kidding right?"

"No ma'am. There are two other streets about the same size as this one but this is the biggest and most popular."

Rachel closed her eyes and groaned. She was going to shrivel up and die here. It didn't look like there was anything to do. Her only hope was that where ever she was staying would be able to entertain her. Or kill her quickly. Right now, the latter option seemed to be the more likely one.

The car turned off Main Street and made its way down a few secondary roads. They eventually came to a stop in front of a two story house with an attached garage. There was a well groomed lawn out front with a few random ornaments scattered about and a tree house in the large tree with a tire swing off to the side. A little garden in a corner of the lawn held flowers, herbs, and vegetables. It was an idyllic small town home. Rachel immediately hated everything she saw.

"And here we are ma'am."

"Great. I can't wait to get out." Rachel said without a hint of excitement.

The driver made his way to Rachel's door and opened it for her before removing her bag from the trunk of the car. She reached into her purse, pulled out her wallet, and looked inside, only to immediately put it back in her purse.

"Sorry, I uh, don't have any cash for a tip."

"Don't worry about it ma'am. Your friend took care of it before we left the airport."

"Oh."

A look up and down the street showed Rachel that everyone other house was pretty much a duplicate of the one in front of her with some differences. She heard birds chirping and dogs barking and immediately missed the sights and sounds of New York: the honking horns of cars, people talking on their phones, police sirens, the skyscrapers above, and even the dirt and grime on the street. This town was too small, too quiet, and too clean for her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the driver as he made his way up to the front door of the house and rang the bell. She saw a middle aged woman open the door and they spoke for a few moments before the driver came back down to the car and drove off. Rachel marched up to the house to introduce herself.

"Hi, my name is Rachel Berry." Rachel smiled brightly and stuck out her hand.

"Rachel," The woman shook the offered hand, "It's good to finally meet you. My name is Carole Hudson."

"I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to do now, Ms. Hudson."

"Call me Carole."

"I- Okay, Carole. I don't really know why I'm here." She gestured towards the house, "This doesn't look like a rehab center of any kind."

"Rehab center? This is my home and it'll be yours for the next few weeks." A confused look appeared on Carole's face, "Hiram and Leroy said you were going to rehab?"

"No, I just assumed that I'd be going to rehab."

"Honey, they just wanted you to get away from the city for a while and see a different side of life." Carole turned her head to look up the street, "Ah, there's Finn now. He's my son."

Rachel turned to see a blue pick-up truck as it made its way down the street and into the driveway. A boyishly handsome young man in dirty coveralls got out and made his way over to them. Now, Rachel knew she was below average height-wise, but the person in front of her just towered over her. Her head barely made it to his chin and she was wearing five inch heels.

She smiled and stuck out her hand to introduce herself. "Hi, my name is Rachel Berry."

Finn looked over Rachel Berry. She was kinda short, but then again most people were kinda short next to him. But, even though she was short, her toned legs looked awesome long under that short skirt she was wearing. Her tits weren't that large and her nose was kinda big, but it all worked for her since she carried herself with the sort of confidence that reminded Finn of the Cheerios back in high school. Like she knew she was hot and dared people to tell her otherwise.

His calloused hand nearly engulfed hers. "Finn Hudson."

When she pulled her hand away, she found that it was covered in some black substance and shoved her hand at his face.

"What is this?" She demanded to know.

"Oh, I guess I must've missed some grease." He pulled out a handkerchief from his back pocket which looked so dirty it probably couldn't have cleaned off anything, much less her hand.

She gave it a disdainful look. "I think I'll just wash my hands inside."

Carole gestured towards the still open door. "Of course. Let me show you were the bathroom is."

Rachel pointed her things. "Finn, can you grab my luggage?"

"What? Why-" Carole gave him a look, "Yea, of course I can."

Rachel turned to head towards the house and then whipped her head around as she realized that he was about to put his dirty hands all over her things.

"Wait! You need to wash your hands before you-" Too late. There were grease stains all over her luggage that he was now holding.

"Before I what?"

"Get my luggage dirty." She mumbled.

He gave her a look as if he couldn't believe the words that had just come out of her mouth. "It's luggage. It's supposed to get dirty."

"It's not just luggage. It's Louis Vuitton luggage."

Again, he looked at her as if she was crazy. "It's still luggage isn't it?"

"Just don't drop the bags," She straightened her head and made her way towards the house once more, "I have important things inside."

He muttered, "Whatever," before asking his mom where to put her things.

"Put them in Kurt's room honey, she'll be staying there since Kurt can't make it home this summer."

"Okay."

He made his way to his old room and immediately dropped her bags on the floor. He was pretty sure luggage went through worse at an airport so there was no reason for him to treat it gently. He was also pretty sure that Rachel was just like one of the Cheerios with her bossy attitude. She was definitely a bitchy cheerleader in high school.

Rachel definitely thought Finn Hudson was a Neanderthal as she washed her hands in the bathroom for a second time. She was amazed that he could even form a proper sentence with more than three words. He probably beat things with a wrench to fix them and then ate a chunk of raw meat afterwards as he grunted things to his Neanderthal friends. And why wouldn't these grease stains wash out?

After rubbing her hands raw, she had finally washed off the grease and made her way to her new room which looked like a teenage male had lived in it. Movie posters and prints of sports stars were hung up on the walls and a calendar with bikini clad women was tacked on the back of the door. Surprisingly, there were a few fashionable touches that she recognized from haute couture brands here and there.

The Neanderthal had flung her luggage onto the floor which didn't surprise her. She pulled out her iPhone charger and hooked it up to the wall outlet before looking in the closet. Half of the closet was empty, for what she assumed was for her use. The other half was filled with generic male clothing: t-shirts, polos, and a dress shirt here and there. Two things stood out: a high school letterman jacket and a clean football jersey that looked very professional, probably from college.

Kurt must have been the star athlete of the family. That was probably why he wasn't home for the summer and his brother was stuck living at home in this town hitting greasy things with wrenches.

She sent Jessica a quick text saying that she had made it safely and called her daddies to let them know she had arrived before she poked at the bed and then threw herself onto it. She found it to be surprisingly soft. At least she'd be able to sleep well.

Sleep.

Sleep sounded good as her eyelids slowly slid shut and she drifted off.

* * *

"Mom, I don't understand why she has to stay here. It's not like we really need the money her dads are giving us."

"It's not all about the money, even though it will help with Kurt's tuition." Finn heard her chopping something, "We're doing a favor for her dads since I knew them before they moved to New York."

Finn looked up from his seat at the kitchen table. "Did they know dad?"

"Yes, they knew your father. We were all friends. They even came back for the funeral."

"Oh." Finn looked back down at the table, "What's she doing here anyway?"

"Her dads just wanted her out of the city for a while." She opened the fridge and found something before closing it, "They think it'll do her some good."

Finn played around with his glass of water for a bit before his mom spoke up again.

"What do you think of her?"

"Uh, she reminds me of the cheerleaders back in high school, kinda has a bossy attitude. I don't think I'll like her very much."

Carole poked her head out of the kitchen. "Didn't you used to date the head cheerleader back in high school?"

"Quinn was different." Finn waved his hands around, "She was nice underneath all that bossiness."

"How do you know Rachel won't be nice underneath all her bossiness?"

"How do you know she will be?"

"Just give her a chance. Maybe you'll be surprised."

"I bet I won't be, but it's not like I'll be spending enough time with her to be surprised."

Finn missed the knowing smile his mom gave him as she pulled her head back into the kitchen.

"Burt will be back any minute now and dinner will be ready soon. Can you go see what Rachel is up to?"

He trudged off to the second floor and knocked on the door. When he got no response he opened the door and found Rachel sleeping on top of his old bed. He really missed his old bed since Kurt's bed was really freaking hard. Kurt's excuse was something about it being better for the spine, but Finn had been sleeping on it for almost a year now and his spine still didn't like it.

His gaze lingered on Rachel's legs because he was a guy and her legs were really sexy, like really sexy: the complexion, the tone, the length, the curves. He shook his head out of those thoughts and kicked the bed a few times, hoping to wake her up. When that failed he moved on to shaking her shoulders.

Her eyes shot open and a look of confusion spread over her face.

"Who are you? Where am I? I have a rape whistle in my purse!"

Finn couldn't help doubling over in laughter before replying.

"A rape whistle? What good would that do if you're locked up in my house?"

She glared at him. "A rape whistle is a very useful item to have in the big city. You never know what may happen."

"Yea, cause I'm sure everyone will come running when they hear it." He stuck his hand out, "I'm Finn Hudson by the way, we met a few hours ago and you're staying in my home, remember?"

She rolled her eyes and he dropped his hand. "Of course I remember. I was slightly disoriented from waking up in an unfamiliar bed."

"Good, because I really don't want to go through that introduction again. Dinner is almost ready. Come down in five minutes." He turned and left the room.

Rachel sat up in bed and washed her face in the bathroom. Not only was he a Neanderthal, but he was rude. She sighed into the towel she used to dry her face. She couldn't believe she was stuck here for weeks. A better performance in front of Jessica and she'd probably be in a fancy LA hotel right now.

She sighed again when a quick check of her partially charged phone showed no new messages, not that she expected any. For all her enthusiasm and bluster, she just wasn't that close to any of her cast mates. She sent off a text to someone she had hoped to hear from but probably wouldn't, before heading down to dinner.

At dinner, she found herself sitting next to Finn and across from Carole and her husband Burt at their oval dining room table. Apparently, Carole had known she was a vegan and prepared a satisfactory vegan dinner. Of course, the Neanderthal had complained about the lack of animal products on his plate.

"Mom, what is this?"

Finn poked at the things on the plate with his fork.

"Those are mushrooms and pine nuts."

Finn looked suspiciously at them. "And we can eat this?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Of course we can eat them. They're perfectly safe and nutritious."

He continued poking at his plate. "Where's the chicken? Or fish?"

"Finn honey, Rachel is a vegan. That means she can't have any meat or fish or anything that comes from them either."

"Not only is it a much healthier lifestyle, but think of all the poor animals you're saving by not eating them."

Carole nudged Burt with her elbow. "You hear that Burt? This stuff is good for you."

"Eh, I don't know." Burt pointed his fork at Finn, "I think I'm with Finn on this one. I'd rather be eating a steak or hamburger."

"You know you can't eat those things anymore."

"I know," Burt sighed, "Doesn't mean I can't want to though."

"Well, I do know some vegan dishes that I would be happy to prepare that are very delicious."

"Oh, that's very nice of you Rachel." Carole looked pointedly at Finn, "I bet Finn would be happy to help you."

Before Finn could speak up Rachel did.

"I couldn't impose on him. I'm sure he has more important things to do besides helping me cook."

"Nonsense, Finn would be thrilled to help you." Finn saw the look his mom had on, "Won't you Finn?"

"Yea, sure. I'd be happy to help." Finn said through gritted teeth.

"Perfect. I'm sure Rachel could use the help after spending the day helping at the shop."

Their forks clattered on their plates at almost exactly the same time before they spoke at the same time.

"What does she-"

"Why do I need-"

They looked at each other and spoke over each other again.

"I'm not spending the day with her."

"There is no reason for me to spend the day with him."

They looked back at Carole and saw her grinning with along Burt.

"Rachel, your fathers agreed with me that this would be the best thing for you. Unless of course you'd like to spend yours days sitting in your room without your cell phone."

Rachel pondered her options for a moment. "Helping out at the shop sounds reasonable."

Burt took over the argument. "Finn, I'm sure you can find something for Rachel to do."

"But she'll get in my way!"

"Aren't you always saying that you could use the help?"

"Yea, but help from someone who knows how to fix cars. Not help from," He waved his hand at her, "her."

Rachel glared at him. "I'm sure I can find something to do. Your job cannot be that difficult."

"See, there you go. She can fix cars once you show her what to do."

Finn groaned. "I'm not getting out of this am I?"

Burt and Carole laughed and shook their heads.

Finn looked over at Rachel and saw an annoyed expression that he was also wearing.

They tilted their heads back at the same time and the same thought ran through their heads.

"This has been the worst day ever."

* * *

A/N 2: Finn's gonna be pretty OOC too as you can see, but less than Rachel.

If you have the time, leave a review.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing.

Sorry for the delay, I wish I had a good excuse for not getting this out earlier, but my Lost marathon took up a lot of time and then I found myself lacking in motivation due to the mediocre episodes of Glee that we've been getting. Don't worry, I will finish this story, eventually.

Also, let's just imagine that the Hudmels didn't move into a new house and stayed at the one Burt and Kurt were in.

* * *

The ticking clock that hung from the living room wall held all of Finn Hudson's attention as he mindlessly shoveled another spoonful of cereal into his mouth. As he mechanically chewed his breakfast, he figured he'd give her five more minutes before he marched up upstairs and woke her up with her own damn rape whistle. Or maybe he'd pour a bucket of water all over her face. Or maybe she also had mace in her purse. Choices, choices.

He really hoped she had mace.

Another spoonful of cereal was shoveled into his mouth just as he heard shuffling footsteps come from the stairs. He looked over and almost spat out the cereal and milk that was in his mouth. She was wearing one of the dress shirts he had left up in his old room. Well, wearing wasn't quite the right word. It was more like the light blue shirt was draped over her body, as it ended up halfway to her knees and the rolled-up sleeves looked more like pant legs as they hung so loosely from her arms.

He couldn't help but stare at button area near her neck and couldn't decide if it showed way too much skin or way too little for this early in the morning because only a few buttons in the middle were actually buttoned. His gaze shifted downward as she slowly lifted her arms and arched her back as she lazily yawned. The shirt kept going up and up and Finn expected to eventually see a pair of shorts or something. There was no way she was only wearing his shirt. She had to be wearing something else underneath it. The shirt continued to creep upwards towards the top of her thighs and still nothing appeared except more and more of her smooth, olive toned skin.

The shirt dropped quickly back to its original position just as Finn unconsciously licked his lips.

"Coffee. Now." She mumbled out.

He coughed twice and pointed towards at the kitchen before he returned to shoveling cereal into his mouth.

She walked past him, making sure to bump into his chair with her swaying hips, and made her way to a fresh pot of much needed coffee. Men were all alike, flash them a little skin and they started to drool. She would bet the Neanderthal's brain grinded to a halt when she went through her fake yawn routine. At the very least, she could make a game out of teasing the Neanderthal to death as a way to entertain herself here.

Coffee was poured into the largest mug she could find. A splash of milk and three cubes of sugar were added before she made her way back to the dining table. She took a seat across from him, completely intending to continue her game, but found herself with a spoon pointed at her instead.

"Why are you wearing that?'

She brought her shoulders up, tucked her chin down, and gave him a seductive smile. "Why? Do you like it?"

He looked at her for a moment then barked out a laugh before he said, "Do you just go through people's things the first day you've met them?"

"Oh, but I haven't met Kurt yet." She brought the coffee up to her nose and smiled as she savored the aroma before she took a sip, "But, from what I've seen, I'm sure he won't mind me borrowing his shirt."

"What? That's not-"

Oh. Right. She thought she was in Kurt's room.

He jabbed the spoon at her confused face. "You're right. He totally won't mind at all. You're just his type."

"Too bad he's off being a sports star this summer. I would have loved to meet him."

The spoon resumed its original job. "Uh huh. Sports. Kurt. Right."

"I saw the letterman jacket and football jersey in his closet. I bet he looks handsome in them." She lifted the shirt around her nose and inhaled deeply, "And I bet he smells wonderful too, just like his shirt."

She smiled into the shirt when he went into a coughing fit. This was just too easy.

"You still haven't answered my question: Why are you wearing that?" He asked after he recovered.

All of a sudden, she was very interested in her coffee. "I, uh, wanted something comfortable to sleep in."

"So," He scratched his head, "You only packed uncomfortable clothes on this trip?"

"No. I just didn't have anything to wear."

"You didn't pack anything to wear to sleep in that giant suitcase?"

She drank from her mug, then again, and then three more times before Finn lost his patience.

"Well?"

"No, that suitcase contains no clothing."

"What do you have in that suitcase? And where are your clothes if they aren't in there?"

"The airline lost my other suitcase that had my clothes in it."

"That sucks." He paused for a moment, "Sorry."

She looked up and smiled softly. "There's no need for you to apologize. It's not as if you were the one who lost it."

"I know. I just feel, uh, bad for you."

"Oh. Your sympathy is greatly appreciated. Thankfully, the airline found the bag and will pay to have it delivered here in a few days."

Finn nodded. "That's cool. So what's in the suitcase you have?"

"Shoes."

"Shoes." He parroted.

"Yes, shoes."

"Shoes?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, the things you wear on your feet."

"I know that. Why do you have an entire suitcase full of shoes?"

"Properly packed footwear requires a great deal of space."

"Properly packed? You couldn't just throw them in?"

She looked at him like he was crazy. "And risk damaging my shoes? Of course not, they're very valuable."

He shook his head slowly. "Wait. What kind of shoes do you have in there?"

"They're mostly Louboutins," She looked down and examined her nails for a moment, "A few Choos and Blahniks here and there as well."

He blinked a few times. "I have no idea what you just said."

She rolled her eyes. "They're shoe designers."

He blinked a few more times. "Uh, what kind of shoes are they?"

"Mostly high heels, but I do have a few pairs of flats."

"So you didn't pack work boots?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Why would I need work boots?"

"Because you're going to be working at an auto repair shop?"

She groaned into her coffee mug.

He polished off his cereal. "How long is it going to take you to get ready? We're going to have to swing by a shop to get you some boots now."

She shrugged. "About two hours."

His eyebrows shot up. "Two hours?" His right hand sliced through the air in front of him before it pointed at her, "No way. You have fifteen minutes."

"I need more time than that to get ready."

He pointed at her. "You'd have more time if you didn't get up so late."

"8:30 is not late. It's practically the crack of dawn!"

He threw his hands up. "Whatever." He pointed at her again, "You still only have fifteen minutes."

She pursed her lips and then cracked a smile. "You can't leave without me, an hour and a half."

His eyes shot open. "30 minutes, unless you want to be stuck in your room with no cell phone all day."

She tapped her lips with her left index finger a few times before responding. "Now what would your mom say if she found out you didn't give me enough time to get ready? An hour and a half, no less."

He sneered. "The same thing she'd say if she found out you woke up late and made us two hours late for work. Forty-five minutes, no more."

"I need at least an hour."

They stared at each other for a few long moments.

"Fine, an hour and no more."

Rachel chugged the rest of her coffee and smiled brightly at Finn before she ran back upstairs to her room.

Truth be told, she didn't actually need two hours to get ready. She was well practiced at quickly changing and applying makeup from her time in musical theatre. It was her hair that took up the majority of the time when she was getting ready and it wasn't as if she needed to be at her best in this town. But, there was no need for the Neanderthal to know that. What she really wanted the extra time for was to hunt for one of her most valued possessions.

The combination of a lack of sleep and sleeping pills had forced her to dump out her carry-on bag and purse out onto the desk to find her iPhone charger. During that process she had lost a small, white - well, it used to be white, it was kind of grayish now - monkey that never left her side from the moment she got it. Not that she or her daddies could remember that moment. They always said it just appeared one day and she had carried it with her every day until she was almost a teenager. It still came with her on important outings and this trip definitely counted as important.

In any case, why it was important to her didn't matter because, honestly, she couldn't quite put her finger on it. What was important at that moment was finding it, even if it meant crawling around on her hands and knees.

"Ah ha!" She finally spotted the monkey hiding under the bed next to a box.

With a little wriggling she was able to reach the monkey, but not before partially knocking the cover off the box. Rachel had never been one to deny her curiosity, so after a slight moment of hesitation she snatched the box out from under the bed as well.

The monkey was safely tucked under her left arm as she opened the box which revealed a small stack of CDs in jewel cases. Shuffling through the CDs told her that they were all from 2010-2012 or at least they were labeled as if they were. Too bad she hadn't brought her laptop so she couldn't continue her investigation into Kurt's life at this moment. She'd have to find a computer or laptop to borrow so she could find out what was on the CDs.

As she stepped into the bathroom to finally start getting ready for the day, Rachel thought that the Neanderthal wouldn't even know what a computer was, right as Finn was sitting in the basement in front of two of the MacBook Pros he owned.

He glanced at the laptop to his left and tapped a few keys before returning his attention to the laptop on his right. He knew it was an awful idea for him to be playing on two accounts while he was so wound up from his chat with the cheerleader but he had nothing better to do. It was a good thing he had limited himself to small stakes limit games as he watched himself lose yet another hand of poker. A glance at the clock told him that she only had 15 minutes left before she had to be ready and he didn't really feel like losing any more money so he closed both of his laptops and headed back upstairs to wait.

Surprisingly, she came down with five minutes to spare. Also surprising was the fact that she had a different outfit on from what she had the day before.

"What's with the jeans? I thought you lost all your clothing?"

"I have an extra set for emergencies in my carry-on bag." She said absently as she drank another cup of coffee.

"So wait, you used an entire bag just for one set of clothes?'

"Of course not, I needed room for my health and beauty products."

He chuckled. "Of course you did. Let's go get you some new shoes."

Unsurprisingly, she never stopped complaining about the unfashionable boots she had to buy at the shoe store. Well, the boots that Finn had bought her since apparently, she had no way to buy anything. They finally made it to the shop an hour and a half later than he usually arrived.

He had a pile of work over from yesterday and plenty of things to do today, first things first though. He poked his head into the office.

"Hey dad, we're here. What'd you want her to do?"

Burt looked up from his paperwork.

"Nice try Finn," Burt chuckled, "My body may not work so well anymore, but my brain works just fine. So have fun spending the day with her."

Finn shrugged. "It was worth a shot."

He walked back out into the work area and found her stomping around in her new boots. He cracked a smile since she looked pretty cute as she wriggled her feet around while she walked, trying to get used to the new boots.

"Having fun?"

She stopped her stomping and gave him a glare that wasn't quite as cute.

"I still don't see why I need them. I would have been fine in my heels."

He waved his arms around. "The shop is a dangerous place. You can't be running around in heels, something might crush your foot and then we'd have to cut it off." He grinned, "On second thought, you're right; you definitely would be fine in your heels."

She narrowed her eyes. "I'm surprised you have the wit to even make a joke like that."

"Huh? What does wit mean?" He said with a cocked head and a confused expression.

"Hilarious," she said with rolling eyes.

He cracked a crooked grin that she found entirely awkward looking.

"Thanks, I'll be here all week." He looked her over before asking, "You mind getting those clothes dirty?"

She looked outraged. "Of course I mind! I'm wearing a Dolce & Gabbana shirt! And these are Parasuco jeans! I can't get these dirty!"

He gave her a funny look. "They're jeans. They're supposed to get dirty."

She glared back. "I'm not getting my jeans dirty."

"Fine, come with me."

He led her over to an old cabinet and gave her a spare set of coveralls meant for Kurt that she looked over.

"Kurt must have looked _so_ _cute_ in this when he was a boy." She said with a big grin.

He glanced over at her. "Yea, sure when he was a boy."

She looked over the coveralls again. "What do you want me to do with this?"

"Uh, wear it? You said you didn't want to get your clothes dirty and I'm pretty sure that'll fit you."

She waved a hand in front the uniform. "Look at how ugly it is! I can't wear it!"

He exhaled loudly. "Look, I don't like it and you don't like it, but you have to work here and if you do work here, your clothes will get dirty. So, you can either wear them or not wear them. It's up to you."

They glared at each other for a few seconds before he pointed her towards the restroom.

"The restroom is over there. You can put them on in there, if you don't feel like doing it here."

She glared at him for a few more moments before marching off to the restroom. She came back with the coveralls on with the sleeves and legs rolled up as he was pulling tools out of a tool chest he needed for his first job.

"Now what?" She said with her arms crossed.

"I'm going to assume you don't know anything about fixing cars." He pulled out a few more tools and held them up, "So, how well do you know your tools?"

She shrugged and said, "I know the difference between a hammer and a screwdriver?"

He let out a loud breath, named the tools he had already pulled out and named the tools as he pulled them out.

After the fifth time she only nodded at the name of a tool he had to ask, "Do you need me to write this stuff down?"

She looked affronted. "My memory is flawless, whether the information is written or spoken."

He shrugged. "If you say so," He held up a tool and pointed at the top, "This is a socket wrench. The number on the side of the attachment here is the size of the socket."

He went on for a few more minutes and when he finished, he let out another deep breath.

"So, I figure that the easiest thing for the both of us would be for you to hand me the tools when I need them and then you can help me clean up when the day is over."

She looked up at him, surprised. "That is… surprisingly reasonable."

He looked down and met her eyes. "What'd you think I was going to do? Make your scrub toilets or something?"

She looked back down at the tools. "I thought you would have given me some awful job to do after our less than amicable interactions."

He nudged her arm with his elbow. "Don't worry, that's coming next week after we start being nice to each other." She rolled her eyes at him, "Now come on, we've got some work to do."

Incredibly, the morning passed by without a hitch. He would have bet everything he owned on the fact that she would have bitched about something, anything, while he worked, but she handed him the tools without a word of complaint. He even found that he could get through jobs faster now that he didn't have to pull himself out from underneath the cars to grab a tool he had forgot.

Of course, that wasn't to say that things were perfect. Apparently, her mouth didn't have an off switch and she babbled about things Finn had never even heard of the entire morning. She'd start off about the deplorable state of some poor animals then bounce over to the terrible music that posed as pop, then jump to something about fancy clothing, and so on and so on. She would not shut up, even when he asked for another tool, she just talked right over him and handed him the right one. It was as if her mouth ran wild and her brain had no control over it.

"What they did to _Rent_ when they adapted it for film was a travesty. The sheer number of songs they had to-"

"Yo, Hudson, where were you last night?"

Finn pulled himself out from under the car he was working on and looked up to see Puck entering the work area, probably for their daily lunch.

"Sorry man. Something came up and I forgot about it."

Rachel shot Puck an indignant look. "As I was saying, the number of songs they had to cut-"

The look was ignored. "Something came up? The fuck?"

She tried again with a louder voice. "Excuse me, I was talk-"

So were her words. "You haven't seen these people in a year and you can't drag your ass to the bar to see them?" He looked over at Rachel sitting on a stool glaring at him, "Who's the angry babe?"

"I'm Rach-"

"That's the something."

Puck looked back down at Finn. "Oh shit. Are you finally back in the game?"

Rachel glared at Finn and raised her voice even more. "Excuse me, I have a name and it is definitely not 'something.'"

Puck shot Finn a grin. "You always did have a thing for the bossy ones."

Finn pointed his wrench at Rachel. "Puck, this is Rachel." The wrench was pointed at Puck, "Rachel, meet Puck."

Rachel looked at Puck curiously. "What's your real name?"

"Why the hell don't you think Puck is my real name?"

"No mother would give her child such a moronic name. While I recognize the Shakespearean connection, I highly doubt any mother would want her son to have the qualities that his character portrays."

Puck shot Finn another grin. "Damn, bossy and bitchy. She's a tiny, brunette version of Quinn. No wonder you like her."

Finn stood up. "Uh, definitely don't like her and I'm stuck with her while she stays at my place."

Rachel placed her fists on her hips as her eyes darted between the two. "You two Neanderthals do realize that I am standing right here and can hear everything you say, right? And I definitely don't like you either."

"Nope, our small Neanderthal brains didn't realize that." Her eyes narrowed at Finn as he grinned at her, "Sorry, there's that wit again."

"Hey asshole," Puck punched Finn in the arm, "Stop flirting with the babe so we can go get lunch."

"Yea, yea. Let's go." He turned to look at Rachel, "Is deli food okay?"

Rachel nodded and Finn's long strides led the way to the deli as the other two trailed behind him.

"So, what is your name?"

"Puck."

"What's your real name?"

"Why the fuck do you what to know?"

"I refuse to refer to you using that terrible nickname when I know you have a real name."

"Bite me midget."

Small, furious footsteps made their way up to the right of Finn. "Is your friend always so rude?"

"Yea, pretty much. You get used to it though."

Her face scrunched up. "I'd be horrified if I ever spent enough time here to become accustomed to his rudeness."

"Yea, hopefully you're gone way before that can happen."

"I hope so too."

Finn never really liked the silences that happened during conversations, probably because his friends always filled them, but for some reason he felt relief when their conversation hit a lull. Listening to her talk took way more energy than Finn wanted to use. Sadly, it didn't last very long.

"What's his real name?"

"Don't fucking tell her Hudson!"

He stared at her for a moment. "You're never going to call him 'Puck' are you? And you're going to keep asking for his real name aren't you?"

"I can be quite stubborn."

They took a few more steps side by side.

"His name is Noah."

Rachel turned her head to look at Noah. "You see how easy that was Noah? And Noah is a perfectly acceptable name. I don't know why you insist on calling yourself 'Puck.'"

"You're a fucking pussy Hudson."

"Whatever. I don't want to hear her complain about you all day long like she does everything else."

"I don't complain about everything!"

"You could've fooled me this morning."

A glare was shot at Finn. "I was just critiquing certain things that I find problematic with popular culture."

"You say critique and I say complain."

Rachel whipped her head forward and stormed away.

After a few moments, Finn shook his head and called out, "Hey, you just walked past the deli!"

Rachel pulled up and turned around to find Finn and Noah chuckling at her. Well, Finn was chuckling and Noah was laughing much too hard for such a simple mistake.

"What is so funny to you two Neanderthals?"

Noah quickly stopped laughing and almost looked sorry but Finn continued to chuckle.

"What can I say? You're a funny girl."

As Finn held open the door to the deli for the other two, he was amazed that the only response she had to his last comment was the slightly stunned expression on her face because from what he had seen in the short time he had spent with her he didn't think there was anything that could get her to shut up. Of course, once she heard what he and Puck ordered, the talking started right back up. This time it was about the horrors of the meat industry and how much healthier a vegan or vegetarian diet would be for the both of them. Puck got her to shut up when he shoved his roast beef sandwich in her face.

At least the chick at the deli still gave him an extra pickle and bag of chips.

They made their way back to the shop and took seats at the table out front. Thankfully, Rachel and Puck spent the time sniping at each other while they ate, so Finn could zone out and unwind a bit before he had to hit the work he planned to do in the afternoon. Of course, nice things like that never lasted too long for Finn.

"Finn, Noah asked you a question."

He turned to look at Rachel sitting beside him. "Huh?"

She rolled her eyes at him and loudly and slowly said, "Noah," she pointed at the person across from them, "asked you," she pointed at him and drew a question sign in the air, "a question."

"I'm not deaf." A bite of his Reuben was taken, chewed, and swallowed, "I heard you the first time."

"Well, apparently you didn't hear him the first three times he asked you."

"Whatever," He turned his head to look at Puck, "What'd you wanna know?"

"Fuck that other question. Right now, I wanna know when you turned into a fucking douche bag."

"It looked like you two were having fun with each other so I was minding my own business. Plus, it was nice to just zone out."

"Hey Finnessa, is it that time of month for you again? And Puckzilla was definitely not having fun listening to her bitch about shit."

"Well-"

"Wait, did he actually refer to himself as 'Puckzilla.'" Rachel burst out laughing when Finn nodded and when she recovered, "That name is even more moronic than Puck. I can't believe he uses that at his age."

"Hey, the ladies love Puckzilla."

Rachel gave him a skeptical look. "I'm sure they do. And what exactly is it that you do? It's obvious with your clothing you're wearing don't have a normal job."

Puck plastered on a self-satisfied grin. "I'm a bartender."

"Figures I'd be stuck with a mechanic and a bartender."

"Figures I'd be stuck with a bitch." Puck shot back.

Finn quickly ate the rest of his food as he could see where this was going to lead and he'd had enough of it.

"Figures I'd be-" Rachel started to respond.

But Finn cut her off. "Alright, enough. Time to go back to work."

"Whoa, there's no way you took an hour for lunch."

"Yea, and there's no way I'm going to spend the next 20 minutes listening to you two bitch at each other like 12 year-olds." He looked over at Rachel as he stood up, "You have the next 20 minutes off to finish your lunch and do whatever you want. I'll see you back inside."

"Wait! You're just going to leave me alone with this imbecile?"

"Uh, yep. Sure am." He said as he walked away.

Exactly 20 minutes later Rachel strode into the work area with her head buried in her iPhone texting away. Her focus wasn't broken until she slammed into something extremely sturdy causing her phone to hit her square in the face.

She looked up while rubbing her nose to find Finn standing in front of her.

"No cell phones on the floor. Especially if you can't pay attention to the crap going on around you."

"But this is my only lifeline to the outside world! You can't take it away from me!"

"I'm not taking it away from you and I think you can live without it for a third of the day. Plus, like I keep telling you the shop is a pretty dangerous place so you need to be paying attention to what you're doing."

"Paying attention? I'm handing you tools, there's nothing dangerous about that. So, how much attention can I possibly need to do that?"

"Whatever. Just don't use your cell phone on the floor."

As Finn made his way under the next car, Rachel handed him the tool he requested and pulled out her phone to resume her conversation with a few cast mates, after all she had to be kept in the loop as to the gossip making its way around the production. As the afternoon went along, she kept handing Finn the required tools and spoke about whatever was on her mind as she continued to text on her phone. She wasn't surprised to find that the Neanderthal didn't realize she was still using her phone because her multitasking skills were excellent.

After a few hours, her bladder began to urgently signal her brain requesting relief. So, she told Finn where she was going and headed towards the restroom, with her head still buried in her phone. She automatically retraced the route she took in the morning when she used the restroom as if it was just another piece of choreography she needed to run through for a production, until her foot was caught on something that she knew wasn't there this morning.

Her attention was pulled away from her phone as glanced down at her foot to see it caught on a hose of some sort before it gave way. She stumbled to her right and shrieked as she tripped over the metal base of the hydraulic lift in the shop causing her to fall face first towards the ground. Luckily, she caught herself with her hands before her face could do it. Of course, she had to drop her phone to catch herself and as she looked around for it, that was when she heard a strange hissing sound right before heavy, hurried footfalls came rushing towards her.

A pair of strong hands wrapped themselves around her waist and pulled her into a roll towards her right. She noticed that it was Finn who had pulled her away from her previous position and was about to give him an earful regarding this rough treatment until she noticed the car that was on the lift rapidly falling right past their heads as they rolled away from underneath it. It wasn't until she finally came to a stop on top of him that she also noticed they had been rolling around in some sort of disgusting liquid which had covered their clothing and, even worse, was in her hair. She stared at her fingers as she rubbed some of the liquid in-between them and found it was-

"What the fuck were you doing?" Finn yelled from his position underneath her, "Didn't you see the fucking sign I put up telling you not to walk that way?"

She looked down and mumbled, "I was uh, looking at my phone…"

"Even though I just told you not to use it?"

She continued to mumble. "I didn't think it would matter."

"Of course, because you know exactly what goes on in a place like this. Instead of, I don't know, paying attention to the person who actually works here!"

Tears pricked at her eyes as she looked up at him. Real tears, she was much too emotional right now to fake them.

"I'm sorry."

She saw the anger melt off his face as tears began to fall before she closed her eyes and let out a few sobs. She heard him sigh and gently pull her closer into a hug.

"You okay?" He said into her ear.

She replied after a few moments. "I'm fine, just a little shocked. Are you okay?"

He let out a laugh. "Yea, I'm-"

"Hey, what the hell happened? Are you two hurt? Do I need to call 911?"

Rachel opened her eyes and saw Burt rushing over with a concerned look on his face as he stared at them lying on the ground.

"No, we're fine dad. Just a little accident."

"Sure, little."His eyes darted around before returning to them, "So what happened?"

Rachel cut Finn off before he could reply.

"This was entirely my fault. I wasn't paying attention to there I was going and tripped over a hose. Finn rescued me from being crushed by that car."

"Okay, let's get you cleaned up as best we can here then you can head on home. Finn and I will clean up this mess."

She made her way to her feet and said, "No, I cannot possibly allow you two clean up my mess without me. Just tell me what needs to be done and I'll help you."

Finn only shrugged when Burt looked towards him.

"Okay, first things first, let's get you two out of those coveralls ASAP. Don't want that stuff soaking through to your clothes underneath."

Rachel came back out onto the floor after wrapping her hair in a towel and carefully changing into a fresh pair of coveralls, making sure not to get any of the liquid on her clothes, but even with her best efforts her jeans now sported multiple stains from the liquid. She saw that Finn and Burt had already begun the cleanup process and hurried over to help them. Finn forced Burt to leave early for some crazy reason and it took them a few hours to finish what they could do that day and she left the shop with Finn, an aching back, and sore shoulders. Her phone was obviously ruined but she would worry about that later. Right now, all she wanted was to get back to the house and soak her aching muscles in the bathtub.

And the bathtub was exactly where she was 45 minutes later.

Meanwhile, Finn needed to blow off some steam so he went for a run as soon as he got home. When that didn't do anything to calm him down, he spent an hour sitting on the couch shooting zombies which did the trick. He checked the clock and noticed it already pretty late since they had to stay behind so long to finish the cleanup. It was only the first full day that the damn cheerleader had been staying with them and she'd already royally screwed up. There was no telling what else she could mess up if she stayed here for any real length of time.

He thought about ways to get rid of her as soon as possible as he made his way up to the second floor bathroom. He figured after a day like today he deserved to be able to sit in the tub for a little bit, instead of using the shower in the basement that made him bend over just to rinse his hair. His mind wandered away from crazy plans to the time right after the incident and focused on the moment when it looked like she broke down under his barrage of words. It was as if for that moment he saw who she actually was. From what he had seen of her, he never would have guessed she would break down and cry during that. She actually looked and behaved as if she was sorry for what she had did. Maybe he had been too rough, he should probably apologize to her in the morning.

It didn't even occur to Finn that someone might be in the bathroom, even though the door was closed since it was so late, so when he threw open the door his jaw dropped when he saw Rachel sitting in the bathtub covered only in soapsuds.

"Can I help you?" She said with an arched eyebrow.

"Uh, want to use the tub." He said after he pulled his jaw up.

"Well, as you can see, it's currently in use." She grinned, "Unless that is, you want to join me?" His jaw dropped again, "I mean, it's the least I could do since you saved my life today."

"Uh, no I'm good. I think I'll just wait until you're finished." He said after he pulled his jaw up again.

He swallowed and couldn't tear his eyes away from the rising soap as she slowly sat up.

"Oh, well then I shall finish as fast as I can. I wouldn't want to keep my hero waiting for too long."

"Mounds good."

She arched her eyebrow again and grinned. "Pardon?"

"Mounds- I mean, sounds good." Finn said before he turned around and quickly made his way out of the bathroom and down to the basement.

Rachel Berry was going to be the death of him.

* * *

A/N2: Once again, there will be a longish delay for the next chapter since I'm on vacation for a week and a half. I might be able to write a little, but I doubt it. Sorry about that folks.

On that note, I'm now posting progress updates on my profile page. You can check that out if you've run out of patience with me.

Also, thanks to a certain Fildo for constantly nagging me about writing.

If you have the time, please leave a review.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing.

Once again, sorry for the delay. Lazy writer is very lazy.

For all those who are wondering, we will be seeing more of the cast of Glee in this story. I just won't tell you who or when they'll be showing up because, if you couldn't tell from my previous story, I enjoy drawing things out, but at least it didn't take me half the story to introduce Finn right?

And of course, they'll all be OOC to varying degrees. This is a future AU after all.

* * *

For reasons unknown to Rachel, she woke up by herself without the aid of an alarm the next day. To her horror, she had also woken up much too early for her liking, then again anything before noon was much too early for her liking, especially if it was a Saturday. After all, it wasn't as if she needed to be at the theater any earlier than 2 PM for her matinee shows and she could stroll into the theater even later for night performances. Of course, that didn't exactly mean she always made her call time, even if she only had to be at the theater 45 minutes before show time. It's not like the director, stage, and theater managers could complain about her habit, after all, she was the Tony Award winner who headlined the show, the person that people paid large sums of money to see.

So, when she woke up at 8:30 AM on her third day in Lima, Ohio, she was more than displeased. As she laid awake in the bed, her mind eventually came to the conclusion that it was the Neanderthal's fault that she was awake so early. There was no other explanation for it because her muscles cried out for more rest since they were still sore, even after her long soak in the bathtub and a night's sleep. She didn't exactly know why it was his fault, just that it was. It had to be his fault. It definitely wasn't because she actually went to bed at a decent hour the night before, instead of staying up past 4 AM partying like she usually did. That definitely wasn't it at all.

As she lazily stretched out in bed, she came to the realization that what she had said to the Neanderthal the day before wasn't a lie, as she had quickly learned to enjoy the feeling of sleeping in Kurt's shirt. Not only was it large and comfortable, it was extremely soft so she knew that it was high quality and the smell that came from it was borderline intoxicating. The bed itself was one of the best she had ever slept in and she had slept on plenty of comfortable beds in her short life, but this one blew all the others away. Not only was the bed was soft and comfortable, the sheets and comforter were as well; they verged on being better than even her own bed back in New York.

In short, she hadn't felt this refreshed from a night's sleep in a long time, aside from her still sore muscles of course.

She pulled the sheets up around her head and took a deep breath. With a cocked head, she wondered why the sheets didn't have the same smell as the shirt that she slept in, but she dismissed that with the assumption that Kurt showered in the morning. She threw the sheets away from her face and her eyes darted around looking for things that didn't exist before she pulled the shirt up around her face, breathed in, and smiled, like she said the smell was almost intoxicating.

After tossing and turning for 15 minutes, she realized that there was no way she was going to be able to fall asleep again and made her way downstairs where she came upon Burt and Carole sitting around the dining room table sipping coffee from their mugs.

"Rachel honey, would you like some breakfast?"

"No thank you," A yawn forced its way out, "just coffee would be fine."

"Are you sure? I found this recipe for vegan waffles that sounds like they would be delicious. Not to mention we have a giant jug of real maple syrup we have to get rid of."

A smile crept onto Rachel's face. "Well, when you put it like that, how could I say no?"

Carole smiled at her. "Wonderful, give me about 15 minutes and you'll have a stack of them right in front of you." The older woman walked into the kitchen, "In the meantime help yourself to the coffee."

Rachel grabbed the same large mug she used yesterday morning and made a cup of coffee which she quickly drained before she prepared another cup.

"I think between you and Finn we may have to start making two full pots on the weekend."

"Sorry. I'll try to refrain from drinking so much while I'm here."

"Rachel, I didn't mean anything by it. You're a guest here; you're welcome to as much coffee as you can drink while you're here with us."

Rachel smiled in return and took a seat across from Burt at the table while Carole busied herself with the waffles.

Burt's eyebrows rose slightly. "Nice shirt."

"Oh, thank you. I found it in the closet of Kurt's room." A sip of coffee was taken, "I hope Kurt won't mind."

"Uh, why would Kurt mind?"

"I am wearing his shirt without his permission."

Burt's eyebrows lifted even more before he grinned and said, "Right, of course, I'm sure he won't mind." It was his turn to take a sip, "Has Finn seen you in that shirt yet?"

Rachel returned the grin. "Yes, he was quite surprised when I came down in it yesterday morning."

Burt laughed. "I'll bet he was."

They both took a few drinks from their mugs before she spoke again.

"Are he and Kurt close?"

"Ah, they had a bit of a rough start, but they've come to love each other in their own way."

"What do you mean by rough start?"

"Oh, they're actually step-brothers. Kurt's my kid and Finn is Carole's. We got married just about four years ago."

"Really? If you hadn't told me I would have thought you were a real family." He raised his eyebrows, "Wait, I didn't mean-"

Burt's laugh cut her off. "No, it's okay; I understand what you mean. I'm happy that Finn has taken to me so well and Kurt with Carole." He smiled, "Things are a lot easier since everyone gets along with each other, don't know what we'd do if Kurt and Finn didn't get along. What about you? Carole told me that you have two dads?"

"Yes, and they're wonderful to me. When I first-"

Carole interrupted her by placing a plate with two waffles in front of her and a jug of syrup next to it.

"Here you go dear, fresh off the iron. I couldn't find any vegan whipped cream but I do have fresh strawberry and blueberries if you'd like."

"Strawberries would be delightful."

"Coming right up." Carole said as she went back to the kitchen

Turning her head back towards Burt, she continued their conversation.

"Where was I? Oh yes, when I realized that I had the dream to become a Broadway star and they sacrificed their lives in the town we used to live in to move the family to New York when I was only four." Carole placed a bowl of strawberries on the table and returned to the kitchen, "Obviously, that put just that much pressure on me to achieve my dream, but I think we all knew that I would reach my goals."

"You don't remember what city you were born in?"

"No." Rachel took a bite of the waffles and grinned wildly, "These are delicious!"

"I would hope so." Carole yelled back from the kitchen.

Burt chuckled before he said, "And you've never been curious enough to ask?"

She shrugged."I've never thought about it. I mean I've achieved my dreams, so I don't have a reason to look back to where I came from."

Burt thought her statement over for a moment and shrugged. "I guess if you don't think you have a reason to think about where you're from, you don't need to find out. But, I don't think I could ever not want to know where I was from, no matter how old I was when I left."

"I've never been one to look back towards the past, only towards the future."

"I suppose that's a good philosophy to have." A thoughtful look came over his face, "Do you ever wonder about your birth mother?"

She shook her head. "No, again, I've never had a reason to wonder about her. My dad and daddy have given me everything I could possibly want in my life." She looked off to her left for moment, "Although, sometimes I can't help but wonder how my life would've been different if I had known her."

"It sounds like you've had a pretty good life in New York."

"I have, anything I have ever wanted has come easily for me, from getting into the best schools to making numerous friends to winning the lead roles in numerous school musicals to being one of the most popular students in school to making my way to Broadway, I have never wanted for anything in either my personal or professional lives."

Rachel ate some more of the delicious waffles as they both drank more of their coffee in silence.

"So why exactly are you here in Lima? Carole just told-"

The opening and closing of the front door distracted them as Finn Hudson got back home from his regular morning jog where he found the strange sight of the cheerleader up so early at the kitchen table with Burt eating-

"Ooh, waffles. Awesome."

Finn sat down as his mom came out of the kitchen with a stack of waffles.

"Don't you want to shower first honey?"

"Nah, fresh waffles are way more important than a shower." He said as he grabbed a plate, three waffles and poured a lot of maple syrup over them before taking a big bite.

Rachel sniffed loudly beside him. "I think in your case the shower would be much more important."

He pointed at his full mouth as he chewed and shook his head.

She glared at him and said, "You're so crude."

He shrugged and continued chewing.

Burt pulled their attention away. "So you two kids have anything planned for today?"

The mouthful of waffles was swallowed. "Dunno about her, but I'm going to lounge around and play video games."

Burt laughed. "Sounds like a good way to spend a Saturday."

"Well, I need to visit an AT&T store to have my iPhone replaced," Carole came back from the kitchen with a final plate of waffles and then sat down at the table with her coffee, "and then buy some new clothes since I only had one clean set with me."

"And that sounds like a terrible way to spend a Saturday."

"I will need a ride for today."

Burt nodded his head. "Carole has volunteer work at the soup kitchen, so that leaves Finn."

Finn's head shot up from his eating. "What? Why can't you do it?"

"Oh, I just don't want to." Burt turned his head to look at Rachel, "Not that I don't enjoy spending time with you, but I don't feel like spending a day shopping." He turned his head to look back at Finn, "So, I'm delegating it to you."

"But I thought I just had to spend work with her! Now you're telling me I have to spend my days off with her too?"

Rachel finished her final bite of waffles in time to say, "Well, I'm not jumping at the chance to spend more time with you either, I just need some directions to the mall and I'll be fine."

Carole smiled sweetly at Finn. "Nonsense, you won't let Rachel wander around a town she doesn't know by herself will you?"

Finn stabbed at the final pieces of waffles a few times, polished them off, and then sighed.

"No, I'll take her around."

* * *

"What do you mean you don't have any iPhones in stock?"

"Uh, we- we are currently out of iPhones miss. The new models are always pretty popular."

Rachel glared at the nervous, pimply employee of the AT&T store. "And you're the only AT&T store in town? Isn't there another one in the mall or something?"

"Uh, there are smaller booths inside the mall, but they get all their stock from this main store miss."

Rachel groaned and then said, "Fine, I'll just place an order with you and have the phone delivered to where I'm currently staying."

"Sure, I can do that for you miss."

After ten minutes, Rachel's eyes had slowly narrowed into slits, because it became apparent that the employee couldn't place the order no matter how often he tried due to the store's network being down.

"Finn, is everything in this town as incompetent as this person and store?"

"What?" Finn looked up from fooling around with the latest phones, "It's not his fault that most people buy their phones online and that the store's network is down." Rachel glared at him, "Hey, I know, why don't you just order a replacement from my house? I'm sure it won't take too long to get there. You can even use my laptop."

"Hmm, yes, I could do that." She turned back towards the employee, "Thank you for all your useless help."

But the employee was ignoring her and staring straight at Finn.

"Wait, Finn as in Finn Hudson? As in _the_ Finn Hudson?"

She saw a grimace flash across his face for a moment before he responded.

"Yea, the one and only."

Her eyes darted back to the employee who was growing much too excited over meeting the Neanderthal.

"This is so awesome! I can't believe Finn Hudson is in my store! I remember watching you on TV win the championship game your senior year when I was a kid! Jesus, I wanted to be just like you when I grew up."

Her eyes returned to Finn and saw him slowly nod a few times.

"Yea, that was a good game."

All of a sudden the employee's voice was much less excited. "What happened to you really sucked."

Finn's eyes looked down for a second then back up at a phone before he shrugged and said, "That's life you know? You can't always get what you want."

The pimply faced employee didn't have a response for Finn who started to awkwardly shuffle his feet so Rachel stepped in. "But if you try sometimes, you get what you need."

Finn looked up at Rachel with a grin. "Now who's being witty?"

"Well, I am a New Yorker after all; we're required to be by law."

"Anyway, let's get going." He turned towards the employee, "Thanks for all your help, uh," He glanced at his nametag, "Kevin."

"Sorry, I couldn't help your friend out Mr. Hudson."

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure you would have if you could've."

As they left the store, Rachel's curiosity was killing her.

"What was that?"

"What was what?" Finn replied as he opened the door to his truck.

"What was that with the worker in the store?" Rachel said after she sat down in the passenger seat.

"That was uh, nothing." Finn said as he started the truck and began the drive to the mall.

"It didn't seem like nothing. He seemed to be genuinely honored to meet you."

"Don't know why, not like I'm anyone important."

Rachel nodded. "Exactly, you're just a small town mechanic. He probably just mistook you for someone else… Although, he said you were on TV in some sort of game?"

"Ah, yea, my one shining moment in high school. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things."

"No, I suppose not."

Rachel watched as they the town faded away in the window as they drove towards the mall and the promise of shopping.

"How far away is this mall anyway?"

"Uh, about 30 minutes?"

Rachel sighed. "Of course it is." She took a deep breath, "So, as I was saying yesterday before your friend Noah rudely interrupted me, I believe that Rent was-"

Finn cut her off by turning on the CD player filling the truck with the sounds of the Rolling Stones which drew a glare from her.

"Look, it's not that I don't uh, mind, talking with you, but can we have the music on too?"

"Oh, of course, I do happen to love all genres of music."

Finn glanced at her. "Even stuff like classic rock?"

"How could I not love classic rock? It is the forefather of all the genres of modern rock and some of the greatest songs ever written are within that genre."

"Uh, that's awesome that you like classic rock."

"Still, I am not in the mood for it. You wouldn't happen to have any albums from Broadway?"

"Uh, I-"

She waved her hand at him. "No, of course you wouldn't."

"But, I-"

"Don't worry about it; the Rolling Stones are a fine choice for the drive."

Finn shook his head and continued to drive; it wasn't his fault that Rachel kept cutting him off while he was trying to tell her that he, thanks to Kurt, did have Broadway soundtracks in his CD case. Plus, he definitely wasn't going to say no if she didn't mind the Stones, which was actually pretty cool of her.

Aside from the quick glance and grin they shared when "You Can't Always Get What You Want" came on, Finn passed the drive nodding his head and tapping out the beats to the songs on the steering wheel, while Rachel finally explained why Rent was so bad, something about the combination of cutting too many songs and the awful Hollywood casting of Rosario Dawson. Eventually, he noticed that she had stopped talking and was either quietly singing or mouthing the words to the songs as she stared out the window lost in thought, probably thinking about new things to complain about.

However, Rachel wasn't thinking about new things to complain about, well aside from the completely useless AT&T store they had just visited, she was thinking about, well more like dreading, the mall the Neanderthal was taking her to. She hoped that the mall wouldn't have the usual department stores and chain brands that filled most of the malls in America but from what she had seen of Lima and its surroundings, all her hope was probably going to waste.

As Rachel feared, the shopping mall that Finn brought her to only contained department stores and the major chain brands. With a sigh, she led Finn towards Nordstrom, hoping to be able to find enough outfits until the airline finally delivered her luggage. On the plus side, this was also another excellent way to torture the Neanderthal. After all, what man liked being dragged around a shopping mall? So Rachel took her time wandering around Nordstrom dragging him around as she slowly picked through the clothes on the racks and had to stifle giggles as she noticed Finn trudging along behind her, carrying the items she'd already purchased, looking bored to death.

A dress on a rack caught her eye and as she made her way over she noticed a blonde streak race past her to jump onto Finn causing him to stumble backwards before he caught himself.

"Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinn!"

"Hey Brit, long time no see." Finn said as he wrapped his arms around the blonde, hugging her back.

"We've missed you!"

"We?" Finn tilted his head to look past Brittany, "Santana's around here isn't she?"

"Yup!" She dropped down to the ground, turned her head to look behind her, and waved, "San! Look who I found!"

Rachel turned her head to follow the blonde's gaze and found two beautiful, smiling women, a Latina and another blonde, making their way towards Finn and Brittany carrying their spoils. Well, the blonde was smiling and the Latina had a dangerous looking grin on as they approached Finn.

"Perfect, just the thing I was looking for." Santana, Rachel assumed, held out her bags, "Carry these for me Hudson."

Finn looked at the bags. "Uh…"

"Just take the bags, we both know you'll end up doing it anyway because that's the way mama Hudson raised you." She looked over at the blonde, "Q, give him your crap too."

"No, I'm ok. I think I can handle carrying a bag or two."

"This isn't about you being able to carry your crap; this is about punishing Hudson for not showing up at the bar because apparently we're not important enough to see. Plus, it's not like you never made him carry your crap before."

The blonde smiled and stepped in front of Finn and said, "Well, she does have a point." Her bags were held out at Finn, "Here you go Finn."

"You gonna introduce us to the new girl?" Santana said after Finn groaned and took their bags.

"Rachel, these are three of my friends from high school: Quinn, Santana, and Brittany." He said as he pointed at each person, "And this is Rachel Berry."

Rachel looked over the people in front of her. Her first impression had proved to be true, the two women were each gorgeous in their own way, the blonde had a classical beauty about her that would have let her fit in with movie stars of old and the Latina seemed to exude sensuality with every movement, no matter how small. The Latina's smile turned into a smirk that made Rachel feel as though she was a mouse about to be toyed with, while the smile fell off of the blonde and was replaced with a cold and calculating gaze that seemed to examine her very soul. Given a choice, Rachel would take the Latina's smirk over the blonde's gaze 100 times out of 100.

"Not bad Hudson, nose is a little big, but not bad at all."

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"What? I'm approving of Hudson's choice."

"Choice?"

Santana looked Rachel up and down again. "Well, you look like you could be good enough for Hudson, plus you look nothing like that bitch Lisa, so that's a big bonus."

Rachel narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Lisa? Good enough? What are you talking about?"

Quinn spoke up. "I think what Santana is trying to say is that she thinks you and Finn make a good couple."

Finn snapped out of his shopping induced stupor. "Whoa, we're not dating. She's just staying at my place because…" A confused expression appeared on Finn's face, "You know, I don't even really know why she's staying with us." He looked at Rachel, "Why are you staying with us anyway?"

Rachel tried to respond, but Santana interrupted her. "So, let me get this straight, you two aren't dating, but she's staying with you?"

Finn nodded and said, "Yea."

"Tell me you two are going at it at least."

Rachel noticed Quinn's eyes darting between her Finn before settling on her.

"No we are not 'going at it,' considering the fact that I only met him two days ago."

The blonde's gaze softened and returned to Finn while Santana continued her interrogation.

"So, if you two aren't going out or hooking up, why are you on a shopping trip with her?"

"Because I had no choice."

Santana smirked. "Mama Hudson eh?"

"Yea."

"Such a mama's boy." Santana turned to Quinn, "C'mon Q, let's go look at bikinis." Then to Finn, "You too Hudson, since you've got our stuff."

"Wait! I haven't finished looking at these dresses yet."

"You mean these polka-dotted monstrosities?" Santana gave Rachel a look, "Maybe it's a good thing you aren't dating Hudson then."

"You don't think they're cute?"

"Yea, maybe on a nine year old." Santana looked over Rachel again, "I mean really, with what you're wearing now, you shouldn't even be looking at these hideous things."

"I- I- You're right, I don't know why they caught my eye." And she was right. As the group made their way over to the swimwear section, Rachel had no idea why the dresses had even caught her eye, since they were something she wouldn't be caught dead wearing back in New York. She really had to get out of this town.

"Finn, you're coming to my party right?"

"Uh, what party?"

"You know, for someone who spends most of his spare time on a computer, you don't check your email that often."

"Uh," Finn pulled out his phone and tapped on it for a moment, "Next Saturday? Yea I'll be there."

"Rachel," The blonde looked toward her for a moment, "If you're still here, you're welcome to come as well."

"Thank you for the invitation, but hopefully I'll have left before then." But somehow, Rachel doubted that her dads and Jessica would've gone through all this trouble just to send her away for only one week. At least she'd be able to get a new bikini out of this though.

"Whoa, what'd you think you're doing?" She heard Finn ask her as she looked through the racks.

"I'm selecting a few new pieces of swimwear in case I'm able to attend Quinn's party."

"Uh, my mom said that this credit card was for emergencies only and I get that you need more than two outfits to wear until the rest of your luggage gets here, but you don't need bikinis. Hell, you don't even need one bikini!"

"But I'll have nothing to wear to the pool party!"

"Aren't you getting your luggage delivered early next week?"

"Yes and?"

"Didn't you pack swim stuff?"

Rachel crossed her arms. "Yes and?"

Finn looked at her as if she was crazy. "And that means you don't need to buy new bikinis!"

Rachel threw her arms up. "Why do you have to be so difficult? They're just bikinis!"

Finn opened his mouth to reply but the sound of a clearing throat interrupted him.

"You two sure you aren't going at it? Cause the way you two argue sure makes it sound like you are." Santana said as she stepped out of the changing room.

"I can assure you that we are not 'going at it.'"

Santana shrugged, struck a pose and said, "So what'd you think? You like?"

Rachel looked her over. "You look very beautiful."

"Always do," Santana looked over at Finn. "Hudson?"

The Neanderthal stood speechless for a moment.

"Uh…"

Santana rolled her eyes. "I'll take that as a yes." Then turned towards the changing rooms, "Britt, Q, get your butts out here so we can see."

The two blondes came out of the changing rooms, Brittany practically came running out of them until she slid to a stop in front of Santana and Quinn calmly walking out behind her, both in the new two-piece outfits they selected.

"San, you look pretty!"

The Latina's cheeks flushed and she looked down before she softly said, "Thanks, you do too."

Rachel's attention was pulled towards the other blonde who had stopped in front of Finn.

"Finn, how do I look?"

Rachel could have swore that Quinn looked almost nervous as she stood there waiting for Finn's response that never came.

"Jesus Hudson, it's not like you've never seen her half naked before. Hell, you've even seen her naked. Just tell her she looks amazing and get it over with."

"Yea," He rubbed the back of his neck, "You know you look amazing, always have."

"Thanks." Quinn smiled, "I guess I know which bikini I'm wearing to the party."

"Yea, I'm taking this one and B is definitely taking the one she has on."

Santana held out her pinky which Brittany linked her own with and they went back into the changing rooms with Quinn following behind, leaving Finn and Rachel alone.

"I take it you and Quinn have some history?"

"Huh?" Finn snapped out of another shopping induced stupor, "Oh yea, we were high school sweethearts."

"How romantic!"

"Yea, I guess."

"Why aren't you two together now?" Rachel said as she picked through swimwear she wouldn't be able to buy.

"Uh, we got to college-"

Rachel's head snapped towards Finn. "Wait, you went to college? Why are you a mechanic if you have a college education?"

"That's a long story," He said as he ran a hand through his hair, "A story that I won't be telling you."

"Why not? I bet it'd be entertaining and I need something to entertain me!"

Finn looked at her as if she was crazy, again. "Because my life isn't some sort of TV show for your entertainment."

Rachel pouted and said, "Fine. Don't blame me if I die from boredom."

"Are you always this dramatic?"

She glared at him. "So what happened between you and Quinn?"

"Well, we got to college and things just sort of fell apart there."

Rachel looked through a few more pieces before she looked at Finn again since he stopped talking. "That's it? That's all you're going to give me?"

"Yup, cause it's part of that long story I won't be telling you."

"You are so-"

"Again, with the arguing." Santana said as she came out with her original clothing on, "Maybe you two should bump uglies and just get it over with already."

"Jesus, Santana!" Finn yelled.

"What? It's true cause there's no way you two won't become fucking annoying with all your arguing."

"Leave them alone Santana." Quinn said as she emerged from the changing room with Brittany.

"You know it's true and you know that Hudson has to start dating again, that Lisa bitch is like-"

Quinn cut her off. "Now isn't the time or place for that conversation."

Santana rolled her eyes. "Whatever, let's go pay for this crap." She turned to look at Finn, "We're going to hit up Breadstix for dinner, you two wanna come with?"

"No, we already have plans for dinner."

Finn looked at her with a confused expression. "We do?"

"Yes, we do." Rachel looked towards the trio of women, "It was a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," Quinn replied, "see you next week."

Finn and Rachel parted ways from his high school friends and made their way back to his truck in the parking lot.

"I didn't know we had dinner plans." Finn said after they began their drive back to Lima.

"Well, I promised your mom that I would cook dinner and I figured tonight would be as good as any."

"Oh."

"Plus, I do need to thank you for yesterday and from what I have seen, food would be an excellent gift."

"You don't really need to thank me. I mean, it's not like I thought I was going to get something back for doing that. It was just something I had to do."

"That is exactly the reason why I need to thank you; selfless acts are the ones that should be rewarded the most." After a moment Rachel spoke up again, "We will need to make a stop at a grocery store."

Their conversation died as the sounds of Bon Jovi filled the truck as Finn drove them to the grocery store closest to the house. Finn always enjoyed visiting that store because it always gave him a kick to watch Azimio and Karofsky bag his stuff. Those assholes definitely deserved the shitty lives they had ended up with. Kurt said it was karma that ended up there, although that didn't explain why he had ended up as a Lima loser as well. He didn't think he was that bad of a guy in high school and college.

They came back from the grocery store to an empty house as Carole was still at the soup kitchen and Burt had left them a note saying that he'd be at a bar watching the afternoon baseball game. After they had put away the groceries, Finn brought Rachel down to the basement so she could use one of his laptops to order her new phone and he noticed she seemed pretty impressed with the decorations of the room as she looked around.

"Here, you can use this one to order your phone."

"Why do you have two laptops?"

"Hmm?" Finn said as he dropped his wallet and keys on a table, "Oh, I use two laptops so I can play more hands of poker at once."

Rachel took another look around the basement before sitting down in front of the laptop to start her order.

"How do you afford all these expensive things as a mechanic?"

"I don't, I bought all of these things with my poker winnings. I don't really touch the money I make at the shop."

"You must very good at poker to have bought all of these things."

"Not really, I'm sure there are plenty of people a lot better than me." He said as he flopped down onto the bed, tired from a day of shopping.

"Well surely, you must have some talent at it for you make enough money to buy these things." Rachel said as she continued her order, "I mean, not that I know much about poker, but I'm sure that the game requires some skill for a person to succeed."

"I guess."

"Thank you for letting me use your laptop." Rachel said as she stood up after she finished her order and started to make her way out of the basement, "We have about an hour before we need to start making dinner."

"Uh, okay."

Rachel stopped short at the end of the table. "Can I borrow your iPod? I'd like to listen to some music before beginning dinner."

"Yea, sure, go ahead."

"Thank you." Rachel said as she grabbed his iPod and headphones before she made her way out of the basement.

Finn remained sprawled out on his bed for a few minutes before deciding to head up to the living room to kill some zombies. He definitely didn't want to spend the brain power to play poker after spending the day having his mind numbed from shopping. So Finn spent the next 45 minutes solely focusing on blasting away at zombies on his Xbox in the living room.

As his session of zombie killing neared its end, he narrowed his eyes in confusion since the sound effects and music to the game sounded completely wrong. It was almost as if someone was singing underneath all of noise the game put out. When he muted the TV, he realized that there was someone singing in the house and that someone was good, really good. Then he realized it had to be the cheerleader who was singing since she was the only other person in the house.

After wondering if he should go up there for a moment, he turned off his Xbox and slowly made his way upstairs towards the source of the singing.

_I love rock and roll  
__So put another dime in the jukebox, baby_

Finn reached the top of the stairs.

_I love rock and roll  
__So come and take your time and dance with_

He reached the door to his old room which was opened part of the way and looked inside.

_I love rock and roll  
__So put another dime in the jukebox, baby_

He saw Rachel holding her hairbrush up in front of her like a microphone while hopping up and down to the song's beat with one headphone pad on her ear and the other off letting her hear herself sing.

_I love rock and roll  
__So come and take your time and dance with_

Rachel stopped hopping as she belted out the final chorus.

_I love rock and roll  
__So put another dime in the jukebox, baby  
__I love rock and roll  
__So come and take your time and dance with_

That such a tiny person could produce such a big and powerful sound made Finn stop and stare in wonder. After a moment, he lifted his hand to knock on the door but stopped when he saw her pick up his iPod and narrow her eyes as she scanned through it, searching for a song. Her lips lifted into a small smile as she made her next selection. She threw her hairbrush onto the bed, closed her eyes, and clasped her hands in front of her with her fingers on her right hand tapping out the beat on the back of her left.

_When I was younger I used to be wild  
__As wild as an elephant's child  
__No one could hold me down  
__No one could keep me around  
__Now it's your turn, take a shot  
__Baby show me everything that you got  
__Maybe you can keep me alive  
__Maybe you can get in my mind  
__But it's only a matter of time_

She opened her eyes and dropped her hands to her sides.

_Before I run far away  
__I need to take a holiday  
__Maybe it's a fall from grace  
__I gotta find a new place  
__A holiday  
__I'll set off on a new chase  
__I gotta see a new face  
__I need to take a holiday_

_My father, he was always wise  
__As wise as an elephant's eyes  
__He couldn't hold me down  
__He couldn't keep me around  
__So are you gonna take your shot?  
__It's the only one that you got  
__Maybe I'll go out on a limb  
__Maybe I'll jump in for a swim  
__When the lights go dim_

_You know I'll run far away  
__I need to take a holiday  
__Maybe it's a fall from grace  
__I gotta find a new place  
__A holiday  
__I'll set off on a new chase  
__I gotta see a new face  
__I need to take a holiday  
_

Her voice rose in volume.

_A new start  
__I've broken too many hearts  
__And I don't have any clue where to go  
__I don't know  
__But maybe I'll be back someday after my holiday_

Her voice softened.

_When I was younger I used to be wild  
__As wild as an elephant's child  
__And I don't think I'll ever change  
__I think I'm gonna stay the same  
_

Her voice rose again and she lifted her arms.

_I'll run away  
__I need to take a holiday  
__Maybe it's a fall from grace  
__I gotta find a new place  
__A holiday  
__I'll set off on a new chase  
__I gotta see a new face  
__I need to take a holiday_

Her voice grew softer.

_A new start  
__I've broken too many hearts  
__And I don't have any clue where to go  
__I don't know  
__But maybe I'll be back someday after my holiday_

Then softer still as she clasped her hands again and sang the last verse.

_All of the wasted time  
__The hours that were left behind  
__The answers that we'll never find  
__They don't mean a thing tonight_

Finn Hudson stood there with his jaw open, stunned at how easily she went from a hard rock song to a much softer alt rock piece. Her voice was seriously amazing and he had heard some pretty good singers during his time in high school, but she would have easily blown all of them away. Hell, she probably could blow away most of the crappy artists that passed as music nowadays.

As he watched her pick up his iPod again, he really wished he could just stand outside the room and listen to her sing another song, but they really had to start on dinner. So before she could settle on another song he knocked on the door before opening it all the way, causing her to jump slightly.

"Hey, we need to start making dinner soon."

"Oh! Sorry." She said as she made her way to the door, "I was distracted since I haven't been able to sing for a few days."

"That's okay, we still have lots of time."

"I was surprised at the variety of music on there. You even had some Broadway!"

"Yea," He nodded, "I listen to a lot of different stuff." His eyes looked away from her for a moment, "Uh, you sounded amazing by the way."

She smiled brightly at him. "I'm glad you thought so, I take a tremendous amount of pride in my voice."

"You should, it's something special."

Her smiled softened and she tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear. "Thank you." She stepped around him and took a few steps down the hallway before looking back, "Come on, let's see how good your knife skills are."

* * *

Carole Hudson knew she wasn't the smartest person in the world, probably wasn't even the smartest in Lima either. Things like advanced mathematics and science were beyond her grasp. Oh sure, she understood the basics of things like evolution and geometry, but her mind just couldn't keep up when it came down the nitty-gritty details. There was, however, one thing she knew better than anybody else in the world and that was her son.

Sure, Finn wasn't the perfect son, but what kid was? He'd had some problems early in high school with bullying and trying to fit in because kids at that age could be so cruel, but thanks to that nice Spanish teacher and a little support from his girlfriend, Quinn, Finn had become a confident young man and was well on the path to making something of himself. Then came the injury.

It crushed Carole to see her son's hopes and dreams taken away from her son in a single moment on the football field, but not as much as it crushed Finn. The change didn't happen overnight, but she could see Finn slowly going back to the way he was at the start of high school, resigned to the fact that things would never change for him and that he would be stuck in Lima, Ohio for the rest of his life. She saw how he was content to let life pass him by as he did nothing but work at the auto shop, play his video games, and hang out with that friend of his, Noah Puckerman.

Another thing Carole knew about Finn was that he could be as stubborn as a mule when he wanted to be, so she didn't push him after his injury because she knew he needed time to come to terms with his injury and what his life could never be again. However, it had been over a year since the injury and he still didn't have any idea of what to do with his life besides going through the motions of living and that was no way to live a life.

So, Carole had an ulterior motive when she told Hiram and Leroy that she'd be happy to let Rachel stay with them. From what they had told her, their wild child of a daughter would be a great way to give Finn a push out of his comfort zone and as she got home from her volunteer work she thought that from what she had seen between them in their interactions, Finn was definitely being pushed out of his comfort zone.

An amazing smell hit Carole after opening the front door to the house, reminding her of the spaghetti that was served at Breadstix, only this smelled about a thousand times better. The second thing that hit Carole was the sound of Rachel and Finn bickering in the kitchen. As she got closer to the kitchen their argument finally became understandable.

"That's way too much red pepper!" She heard Finn say.

"It is not! This tomato sauce needs the kick of a little red pepper to spice it up!"

"That's not a little!"

"Stop worrying about the sauce, I've made it dozens of times! You need to worry about the pasta!"

Carole leaned against the door frame leading to the kitchen and watched as Rachel stirred her tomato sauce and Finn threw some salt into a pot of water.

"The pasta? The pasta cooks in like no time at all! What's there to worry about?"

Rachel shot Finn a glare. "Have you checked on the garlic bread?"

Her son threw his arms up. "We just put that in the oven!"

Another glare was shot in his direction. "Well, it never hurts to make sure."

Carole finally spoke up. "You two sound like you're having fun."

They both spun around.

"Mom!"

"Mrs. Hudson!"

Carole jokingly glared at Rachel. "Now what did I tell you about calling me that?"

"Not to?"

Carole smiled. "That's right and I think I'll leave you two to finish making dinner, which smells delicious by the way."

As Carole left the kitchen, their bickering immediately began again which she definitely didn't mind, the house had been a little too quiet this summer seeing as how Kurt wasn't able to make it back to Lima. She was pretty sure there wouldn't be a dull moment for Finn as long as Rachel was living with them and that was worth a lot more money than Hiram and Leroy could ever pay her for letting Rachel stay here.

The fact that she could see a certain spark between the two was even better.

* * *

The two songs Rachel sings in this chapter are "I Love Rock 'n Roll" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and "Holiday" by Boys Like Girls.

I hope to have the next chapter written without any more long delays, so maybe in a week and a half? Hopefully?

As always, if you have the time, please leave a review.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I think I told a few people this would be out last Thursday, then yesterday. Oops?

Once again, it appears I need to apologize for a lengthy delay. My muse escaped from my basement so, if anyone sees an emaciated muse with a broken chain attached to its right ankle and handcuffed hands could you please capture it and return it to me? Thanks, I'd appreciate it greatly.

So yea, I'm probably teetering pretty close to Dead Fic territory here but I'd like to reiterate that I will finish this story no matter what, even if I lose every single reader I have.

One more thing, the anonymous reviewer barbby can go fuck him or herself. I had a much, much longer rant written out but I thought better of it. In any case, on to the story.

* * *

Amazing.

Fantastic.

One of the best.

Superb.

Those were just some of the words reviewers used to describe Rachel Berry's voice during her short musical theatre career. Rachel took pride in the fact that other many people recognized what she did at an early age. She always knew that she had the natural vocal talent to succeed on Broadway and the talent competitions she won throughout her life proved it. However, that didn't mean Rachel took her voice for granted, like any other instrument it had to be taken care of for it to perform its best.

Unlike the majority of the other actors on Broadway, Rachel didn't smoke cigarettes since she knew the cancerous chemicals they contained would not only damage her vocal chords but reduce her lung capacity, which she needed to hold the longest notes in the songs she sang. Besides coffee, Rachel's drink of choice was tea, which was required to sooth and heal her vocal chords that she strained every night. Her one and only vice was staying up late partying, which was needed to unwind after every performance, but she moderated, or at least tried to, her drinking and made sure to get plenty of rest after the late nights. After all, what was a little tardiness compared to having a well rested voice?

Of course, natural vocal talent wasn't the only reason behind Rachel's voice. It was widely thought in the Broadway world that Rachel had excellent relative pitch, but wasn't known to most was that Rachel had absolute pitch which was one of the reasons she was able to get away with arriving late almost every day. It also allowed her to detect the smallest imperfections in the voices of her fellow performers which annoyed them to no end, but in Rachel's mind the production would always come before soothing the egos of other actors. This was why Rachel was loved by every director and tolerated or even disliked by most of the actors she had ever worked with.

So, when Rachel woke up to a blood curdling scream at 3 AM, she was immediately able to identify it as a pitch perfect B-flat coming from the mouth of one Finn Hudson. When the scream died just as fast as it started, Rachel couldn't tell if she had dreamed it or not so she laid awake for a few minutes, nervously holding onto the comforter, until she heard the scream again, proving that she hadn't dreamed it. This time, the scream lasted much longer and if terror hadn't been building up in Rachel, she would have been impressed with the lung capacity required to scream for so long.

When the second scream died, she slowly made her way up out of bed and out of her room, clutching onto her monkey in one hand and rape whistle in the other. The third scream came and went while she slowly took the steps down to the first floor, every creak sounding like a tree trunk shattering to her ears. The fourth and loudest scream hit her ears as she stood in front of the half-open door that led to the basement, trying, but failing, to stop herself from shaking.

"F-F-F-Finn?" A cat would have had a hard time hearing her.

Her right elbow nudged the door completely open and she gingerly started to make her way down the stairs until her foot landed on the second step and a creak froze her in place.

"F-F-Finn?" Her critically acclaimed voice failed her again.

She swallowed twice, trying to get her dry mouth to produce some saliva to wet her throat before she tried again.

"F-F-"

The fifth scream silenced her.

"F-Finn?" She found her voice again as she leaned forward slightly, "Finn? Can you hear me? Are you-"

A hand lightly came down on her left shoulder and she learned where the expression "to jump out of your skin" came from. The hand gently turned her around and she found herself looking up at Burt who had a sad smile on. He gestured for her to be quiet and she followed him out of the stairwell, closing the door behind her. The sixth and final scream she heard that night was barely audible through the door and faded into nothingness as Burt led her towards the living room to the sofa.

"Do you want anything? Glass of water or juice?"

Still trembling, she said, "Wa-water."

"So I guess the screaming woke you up?" He said after he came back with a glass and they took their seats.

A few sips of water slowly brought the trembling to a stop. "Wha-what was that?"

Burt stared blankly straight ahead. "Finn has nightmares," He turned his head to look at Rachel and he had on another sad smile, "but I guess you already figured that out."

"Shouldn't we wake him up?"

He shook his head. "No, waking him up just means he can't fall asleep again that night." He let out a breath, "We learned that the first few times we tried it."

They sat silently for a moment.

"He scared the crap out of me and Carole the first few times we heard him up in his old room." He finally said as if he was talking to himself while still staring blankly ahead, "Had no idea what was happening, all we heard was screaming and when we opened the door all we saw was him screaming and grabbing his leg."

"What did you mean 'his old room'?" She asked when it became clear that Burt had finished talking.

"Oh," He looked over at her, "the room you're in now used to be his room, but when he learned that he was screaming all night long he said he would move out. Well, me and Carole wouldn't stand for that so we got him to move to Kurt's room in the basement and installed some soundproofing down there, including a soundproof door, course that doesn't work if he doesn't remember to close it. I mean he's usually good about it but he forgets sometimes if he's had a long day at work."

Rachel nodded. "The last job yesterday did give us some trouble."

He returned his gaze to some unknown spot in front of him and chuckled, "Kurt said the only way he would let Finn stay down there was if Finn didn't redecorate at all, something about not wanting cowboy wallpaper to touch his room, but I think he just hopes one day Finn will be able to move back upstairs." His voice trailed off as he said, "We all do…"

They went quiet again with Rachel's water sitting forgotten and untouched on the table in front of them.

"Why does he have nightmares?" She asked quietly.

"I take it you're not a big fan of college football?"

She looked over at Burt who was still staring blankly ahead. "No, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"It's the reason Finn has nightmares. He injured his leg playing football in college and couldn't play again and now," His voice became bitter, "since he hasn't suffered enough, he has these damn nightmares almost every night. Kid can't even get a fucking good night's sleep." He looked over at her, "Sorry, didn't mean to sound so rough."

"That's okay; I know it must be difficult."

Rachel picked up her once forgotten glass of water and took a few more sips before replacing it on the table.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Already did, but I'll give you another."

"This may be too personal, but if Finn went to college why is he here in Lima, um…" Her voice faded as she tried to think of a more tactful way to phrase her question.

But she needn't have bothered. "Working as a mechanic?"

She nodded.

Another sad smile appeared on Burt's face. "That's my fault. Ohio State switched him to a full academic scholarship after his injury but I had to go and get my second heart attack. Docs said I couldn't do anymore physical work and we needed someone at the shop to pay for Kurt's tuition so Finn dropped out to come back here to work."

"Why would he give up on college like that? There must've been another way."

Burt looked towards the basement door. "Finn thinks that he owes Kurt something since he took too long to do anything about the bullying Kurt went through back in high school. We tried to tell him that we'd hire someone else, but he said that with Kurt's high tuition we needed to find the cheapest guy and he was it." He looked off in front of him again, "You know, I don't think he even takes the money he makes from the shop."

They sat silently together on the sofa for what Rachel thought was a long time, but when she looked at the VCR – wait, people still owned and used VCRs? – only three minutes had passed when her mind unconsciously put two and two together.

"Whose stuff is in the closet upstairs?" She blurted out.

"Oh, that's some of Finn's stuff that he didn't want to take downstairs."

She looked down at herself, her eyes narrowing. "So, this is Finn's shirt I'm wearing."

"Yea," He gave her a confused look, "Finn didn't tell you?"

She calmly replied. "No," Her left eye twitched in anger twice, "I guess it must have slipped his mind."

"Well, I think it's time we tried to go back to sleep." Burt stood up, "You wouldn't want to be dead tired for work tomorr- well, I guess that's today now isn't it?"

But work was the furthest thing from Rachel's mind as all she could think about was how Fi- no, the Neanderthal, had been playing with her with his stupid joke for over a week. He probably laughed at her with his fellow Neanderthal every single day.

Her left eye twitched again. "No, we wouldn't want that."

"I'll remind Finn to make sure the door is closed every night." Burt said, just before he disappeared up the stairs.

Rachel drained the remainder of her water and as she made her way back up the stairs to her room, the terror and sympathy she had felt minutes earlier was completely replaced with anger over the fact that the Neanderthal had done this. When she returned to her room the first thing she did was pull out her own sleepwear from her luggage that had finally arrived during the early in the week, fully intending to change right then and there, but as she was halfway through the process of unbuttoning the Neanderthal's shirt, a smirk came to her lips. If this was the game the Neanderthal wanted to play, then she would play it and he would pay. Oh, he would pay dearly.

No sense in letting him know she was on to him, so she re-buttoned his shirt and went back to bed with one question running through her mind.

How would she make him pay?

* * *

Finn couldn't put his finger on it, but something was off with the cheerleader. Oh sure, she was still nice to his mom and dad – he still couldn't figure out if that was an act – and she rambled a lot about everything under the sun but as he drove them to Quinn's place he was pretty sure something had changed.

Things had gone pretty well that week at the shop with her still handing him the tools he needed and helping him clean up at the end of the day, which made the days fly by pretty fast which was awesome. Their arguing changed too, oh sure they still fought about almost everything but it had slowly lost the edge as the week went by which was kinda nice. She even seemed to learn how to sorta get along with Puck during lunch which was a bonus.

But all yesterday, she was back to acting like it was the first day they had met. No, that wasn't right. Even on the first day, she hadn't been this annoyed with him. At work, she barely let him finish a sentence before cutting him off to reply and she almost slammed the tools he asked for into his hands. At lunch she had all but ignored him and to talk with Puck and after lunch she didn't say a single word until it was almost time to close. He almost-kinda-sorta-barely missed her rambling in a he'd-never-ever-tell-another-living-soul and an oh-crap-did-he-actually-think-that kind of way.

It kept going this morning too, when he asked her for the salt and pepper at breakfast, she pulled her hand away as fast as possible before he had a good grip on them, making him drop them. Plus, instead of just rolling her eyes at him when he made his daily comment about sleeping in "Kurt's" shirt, she gave him a look that reminded him of Quinn just before she tore him a new one. That usually happened when it was her time of the month. The thought that it might be the cheerleader's time of the month made Finn shiver.

As Finn pulled into the driveway to Quinn's mansion of a house, they could see that they weren't the first to arrive since there were already a few parked cars there.

"What do Quinn's parents do?" Rachel asked as she stared, stunned at the size of the house they were standing in front of.

"Uh, her mom doesn't do much and her dad is like some big shot business guy in town." Finn replied as he grabbed a cooler from the bed of his truck, "Come on, let's go round back."

Rachel followed Finn down a path that led to the back of the house which revealed an enormous backyard and an Olympic-size swimming pool with Quinn, Santana, and Brittany already lounging on chairs poolside with Noah was standing in front of them, chatting them up over the pop music that was playing over a set of outdoor speakers. There was also a person there that Rachel didn't recognize setting up a grill on the far side of the pool, or at least trying to; it was a blonde man about their age with abs of steel and lips so full that most of the women on Broadway would give their souls in exchange to have them.

Santana looked over at the newly arrived pair and loudly said, "Finally, a real man is here. Hudson, show these two idiots how to set up a grill."

"Hey! I'm getting there!" The blonde man yelled back.

Santana looked over at him. "Whatever, by the time you finish, we'll all be dead from starvation." Santana looked at Rachel, "That's Sam by the way, also went to high school with us."

Sam walked over to Rachel. "Hey, you must be the person staying with Finn."

"I am. I'm Rachel."

"Hudson, you bring the drinks?" Noah asked.

"Yea, there are two more coolers in my truck." Finn said as he set the cooler he was carrying down next to a table.

"Come on Sam, let's go get 'em while Santana makes Hudson the grill bitch." Noah said as he started towards the front of the house.

"You heard the man," Santana smirked at Finn, "get to grilling. By the time you get it set up and cooking it'll be time for lunch. And tell me you brought champagne because I wants me a mimosa or two before lunch."

"Yea, there's champagne." Finn said as he made his way to the grill.

Quinn turned her head to look at Rachel. "Glad you could make it Rachel."

"That is such a cute swimsuit Rachel!" Brittany said.

"This is just a shirt and a pair of shorts. I have my swim suit on underneath." Rachel said while giving a funny look to Quinn.

Quinn smiled and said, "Don't worry, you get used to Brittany."

"B is right though, why aren't you in your swimsuit?" The Latina said from her chair in-between the two blondes, "Let's see the body that Finn isn't getting any of."

Rachel smirked at Santana, faking a confidence she didn't really feel.

It didn't pass her notice that before her were three incredibly beautiful women. She noticed it at the mall during their swimsuit fashion show last week and definitely noticed it now, with their toned stomachs and complete lack of fat on their legs or arms. All three of them must have done some sort of sport during high school and/or college.

As a young Broadway star, Rachel kept her body in good shape but she couldn't really compare with the three near perfect specimens lying before her and even though she went topless every night for her musical she almost felt embarrassed to be seen in a swimsuit next to these three. The difference being, of course, her nudity was for an artistic performance that was appreciated by thousands of people while here, all that would happen would be a comparison. She couldn't explain it, but she didn't understand why she didn't want to be compared to the three women in front of her.

A quick glance around saw the Neanderthal setting up the grill at a much faster pace than Sam was and Noah and Sam just making their way back to the pool.

It was almost as if she knew that people would find something wrong with her, but Rachel didn't get where she was by being timid so she stripped out of her shirt and shorts revealing one of the half dozen swimsuits she had brought with her.

All her worry was for naught.

"Damn Berry, my first impression was right. Not bad, not bad at all." Santana said with a smirk and then winked, "If I wasn't taken, I'd love to have your legs wrapped around me."

Rachel stood there speechless with her jaw slightly hanging open.

Quinn smiled up at her. "Cat got your tongue?"

"No, I just haven't met anyone quite as… forward as Santana in my life."

"I'm like a fine wine; I just get better the longer you keep me around."

"That makes no sense at all…"

Santana gave her a look. "And?"

Quinn laughed then gestured at the beach chair next to her. "Take a seat."

Rachel took a seat in the offered chair and watched as Sam helped Noah set up a drink table by them.

"So," Rachel looked over at Santana, "I think you're gonna wanna Hudson or Puck put sunscreen lotion on you. Sam's not bad to look at, but he's pretty useless as a guy. He doesn't do it hard enough." Santana looked over, slid down her sunglasses and winked at Rachel, "Now, Puck and Hudson can definitely do it hard enough, but I prefer Hudson. I know Quinn does too." Rachel glanced over at Quinn who only rolled her eyes, "Something about his rough hands that just does it for us."

"Hey bitch, that's not what you said last time." Noah said as he came over.

Santana smirked up at Noah. "Aw, the panties you wearing under there in a bunch?"

"Fuck you." He looked over at Rachel and Quinn, "You ladies want something to drink?"

Rachel started to respond with her usual drink order. "Jack-"

Santana cut her off. "Mimosas all around and make it quick, I wants to get my drink on."

"I said ladies so I definitely wasn't asking you."

Quinn smiled up at Noah. "I'll have what San's having."

Rachel knew how this girls vs. boys game was played. "I'll have a mimosa as well."

Noah looked over at her. "Didn't you want something else?"

Rachel smiled up at Noah. "I changed my mind."

Noah turned around and stalked off, muttering something about the damn women ganging up on him while the three women looked at each other and grinned.

As they waited for their drinks, they spent the next few minutes chattering among themselves about the latest celebrity gossip from magazines when a new voice interrupted them.

"Puck! Sam!"

"Mike!"

Rachel looked up to see a tall, lanky Asian being greeted by the other two with man-hugs and fist bumps all around.

"Chang!" Santana waved him over, "Get over here, big man on campus, got someone new here for you to hit on!"

"Hey, I don't hit on everyone on campus." Mike said as he walked over with a beer.

"Yea, just all the hot chicks who throw themselves at you." Quinn said before she pointed at Rachel, "Anyway, this is Rachel and he's Mike, star wide receiver at OSU."

Mike raised his right hand as if he was taking an oath. "And I am taken and completely faithful to my college sweetheart, no matter how many hot co-eds throw themselves at me." He grinned at Rachel, "I may or may not engage in some light flirtation when I can't help myself."

Santana grinned. "Sarah's lucky she got her claws into you freshman year."

Mike grinned back. "And I am lucky that she got her claws into me."

Noah walked over and threw his arm around Mike's shoulders. "This fucker's gonna be famous and filthy rich-"

"Hey, stop with the bromance and finish making our drinks." Santana interrupted.

Noah shot a glare at Santana then turned his head to find Sam. "Quit your bitching. Sam's bringing them over." He looked back at the women in front of him, "See? Now where was I? Oh yea," He slapped Mike on the back, "Mike here is gonna be filthy rich when he makes it to the NFL." He shook his head, "I still don't get why you didn't go pro this summer. You're a sure fire first round pick."

Mike laughed. "You never know man." No one but Rachel noticed his eyes glance over at Finn, who was almost done with setting up the grill, and the laughter fell off his face for a moment before his eyes returned to Rachel, "So, what brings you to our tiny town?"

Rachel smiled up at him as Sam handed her a mimosa. "Let's just call it an unwanted vacation."

"Well for an unwanted vacation, you've got it pretty good don't you? A sunny day, a pool, music, food, and drink."

Rachel thought this over for a moment. "I suppose I can't complain too much."

Santana spoke up. "Speaking of food," She turned her head and yelled, "Hudson, you done yet? When can I gets my hot dog on?"

Finn yelled back. "Food's going on right now."

"Got Finn grilling again?" Santana nodded and grinned at Mike, "Then I'm gonna go swipe that hot dog of yours Santana," Mike nodded at Rachel, "Nice meeting you Rachel."

"Don't you fucking dare! And tell Finn to bring those magic hands of his over here." Santana said as Mike grabbed another beer and headed towards the grill.

Rachel took a sip of her drink and her eyes widened. "This contains some high quality champagne."

Noah nodded at her. "Hudson always brings the quality stuff."

Another sip was taken and swirled around her mouth before being swallowed. "The cherry, apple, and citrus notes complement the orange juice very well and there's a nice crisp finish." A sip was taken and swallowed again, "This is very full bodied, shining through the orange juice. I'm very impressed."

The four people surrounding Rachel gaped at her as she finished her short critique on the champagne, while Brittany was too busy dipping a pretzel stick in her mimosa.

Noah's jaw pulled itself back up. "You know Berry, you could've just said: 'This shit tastes great.'"

Rachel shot Noah a glare. "'Great' is not specific enough to describe the quality of this champagne."

"Okay, fine." He looked up in thought for a moment, "The champagne is fucking great. Better?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Yes, that is _so_ much better."

"Whatever princess."

They glared at each other for a few moments before Brittany broke the silence with a whisper. "Guys, I think my cat is a witch."

"Why do you say that B?" Santana responded in a bored tone.

Brittany continued to whisper. "I had a duck on a scale and when my cat got on the other side, they weighed the same!"

Santana continued to be bored. "And?"

"Witches weigh the same as ducks because they both float!"

"Okay B, we'll get your cat a broom or something."

Rachel stared incredulously at Santana and Brittany. "That makes no sense at all!"

Santana shot a glare at Rachel while Brittany responded. "Witches burn which means they're made out of wood and wood floats like ducks do. So, if something weighs the same as a duck that means it's a witch. It's like totally obvious."

Rachel gaped at Brittany for a moment. "Wait, that sounds familiar, like it's from-"

"Whatever, no one cares." Santana glared over at the grill, "What is taking Finn so long to cook a damn hot dog?"

"Speaking of food, will there be anything else besides hot dogs and, I assume, burgers?" Rachel asked.

"Yea, Finn said you were vegan so I picked up a box of those tofu burgers." Quinn responded.

"Oh," Rachel looked over at the grill to see Finn talking with Mike as he stuck a hot dog in a bun, "that was nice of him."

Quinn looked over at Finn who was making his way over with Mike. "He can be thoughtful when he wants to be."

Finn held out a plate to Santana. "One hot dog."

"And where are my fixin's?"

Finn grinned. "You just said you wanted a hot dog. If you want all that other stuff they're on the table by the grill."

"You ass." Santana pulled herself up and grabbed the plate, "When I get back, I want those hands of yours spreading sunscreen on my back."

"No can do," Finn held up a pair of dirty hands as he left for the grill again, "I've got grease and charcoal all over them."

"Ugh, why are all the men I know so useless?" was tossed out before Santana stalked off behind him for the condiments.

"Are these all the people coming to the party?" Rachel asked.

"A few more people might be able to make it." Quinn gave her a funny look, "Why do you care?"

"I just thought with this much space more people from your high school would've been invited."

"No, now that I don't have to deal with them on a daily basis, I could care less about hanging out with those people. Especially since I haven't talked to most of them in years." With that said, Quinn turned and began a conversation with Brittany.

Rachel looked around the pool and couldn't help but feel she was, once again, in a completely different world than the one she left back in New York. If this was a party back in New York they'd be lounging around a pool on top of a skyscraper with a DJ blasting the latest club hits so loud she could barely hear herself think, much less hold any sort of meaningful conversation. There would be drunk men and women stumbling around everywhere trying to hook up with anything that moved and the conversations she had would mostly range from inane to idiotic back to inane again and that was when she talked with the people she regularly hung out with.

Here though, sitting around Quinn's pool, everything was different as Rachel watched Santana come back with a second hot dog for Brittany, just the way the blonde liked it, then easily joining in on the conversation that was taking place between the two blondes. There were no old, drunk, lecherous men trying to hit on her or bottom feeders trying to brownnose their way onto a bigger production or catty females giving backhanded compliments around the pool. It was just a small group of friends who genuinely enjoyed spending time with each other, not something that Rachel had too much experience with.

Rachel watched as Santana reluctantly chose a gleeful Noah to apply sunscreen to her back after her hot dog was devoured surprisingly fast. Surprisingly, Noah didn't linger with the application of the sunscreen and quickly finished Santana, Quinn, and Brittany before moving onto her. She quirked an eyebrow at him as he motioned for her to roll over before she did but unlike Santana and Brittany, he lingered quite a bit longer. Not that she minded, his hands felt perfectly fine on her back as he rubbed the sunscreen onto it.

"Having fun?"

Rachel looked up to find Mike standing over her with two plates of food and grinned. "Things could be worse."

He handed her a plate after she waved Noah away and rolled over. "Well, here's a disgusting veggie burger for you, courtesy of Finn the grill bitch."

"Veggie burgers are not disgusting, in fact they are quite delicious. I can't imagine a real hamburger could possibly taste better."

Mike laughed. "I've grabbed one of those tofu patties by accident and let's just say it was one of the worst things I've ever eaten."

Rachel opened her mouth to respond but Mike held up a finger.

"And I've had plenty of tofu before since you know, I'm Asian, but whatever that is, isn't tofu."

"Well, I think it's delicious." She said as Mike took a seat in the chair next to her.

She began to assemble her burger while he began to eat his before Finn made his way over with a plate for Quinn. He gave her a small smile which she returned before he headed back towards the grill with Noah and Sam.

"Not hanging out with the other guys?"

"Nah, I'm tired from training this morning and it's not like I don't talk with them every day during summer break."

"Training?"

He nodded. "Yea. Running and lifting mostly, gotta stay in shape for the fall."

"What happens in the fall?"

He laughed. "Not a football fan I take it?"

"No, that is such a barbaric sport. I can't believe so many people enjoy it."

"Yea," He nodded, "it's pretty brutal, but I guess there's something alluring about watching two army-like teams going at it."

"If you know it's such a brutal sport, why do you play it?"

Mike looked up in thought for a moment. "I guess the main reason I play is because I have fun doing it. If I didn't have fun playing football, I couldn't put up with having to train and study playbooks and game plans all week long, then I'd have the crap beat out of my for three hours every Saturday."

"Fun?" Rachel said incredulously, "That's your reason for playing?"

"Yea, why would I put myself through all that if I didn't have fun doing it? Oh, I guess the hundred thousand screaming fans don't hurt."

"All those people come to watch you play?"

"Well, not me specifically, they come to watch their football team play. But I mean it's pretty awe inspiring when they're all chanting the same thing."

Rachel couldn't imagine what it would feel like to have 100,000 people cheering her on. The largest venue she'd been at was the Radio City Music Hall and that only held 6,000 people who just politely clapped for her.

"It must give you a huge rush to hear all those people cheering for you at the same time."

He gave her a thoughtful look. "You know, it doesn't really matter when I'm on the field playing. I'm kinda in a zone out there just playing the game and nothing else matters." His thoughtful look turned into a grin, "But it does sound awesome when the defense is on the field and I'm just sitting there. Gotta love the fans."

"You like your fans?"

"Yea, why wouldn't I?"

"Don't get they get annoying? Always asking for autographs, photos, and answers to their questions?"

He laughed. "Some of them can get a bit intense, but I still love them. I mean, without them my college tuition wouldn't be paid for by just playing a sport that I love."

"But you're the one doing the thing that they love to see! They should be honored that you're sharing your talent with them!"

"I guess, but I look at it like this: If I'm not the one that they're cheering for then they'd just find someone else to cheer for. It's not like football wouldn't be played if I wasn't around. So, I guess that I'm the one who should be honored that they've picked me."

"I- I've never thought of it that way before."

Mike nodded. "Football was around long before I got here and it'll be around long after I've retired. So I figure I might as well enjoy as much as possible, fans included, while I'm playing."

"Is that why you didn't go pro this year?"

Mike nodded again. "Yea, playing in football is college is almost like an extracurricular activity, but I know that if I make it to the NFL it'll be my job. I need to enjoy it as much as I can before all that extra pressure is on me." A bite of his burger was taken, chewed, and swallowed, "Plus, I'd like to graduate before I go pro, just in case I need something to fall back on."

"That's very thoughtful."

Mike looked down for a moment. "I, uh, had a wakeup call that made me think about a few things."

"What was the-"

A scream from Santana interrupted Rachel. "Turn up the music! I haven't heard this shit in forever!"

"—promised, out throwback song of the week, "Ride with Me" by Nelly."

The soft acoustic guitar intro to the song was quickly turned up until it filled the backyard and Santana and Brittany began to sing along with Quinn joining them after rolling her eyes. It took a point and an angry look from Santana to get Mike to join in. The three guys around the grill joined in after they screamed out the second "Hey! Must be the money!" Soon they were all rapping the first verse, some of them doing a pretty poor job, namely all of the men. Some, Santana and Brittany, were actually doing a pretty good job.

Like Santana, it had been years since Rachel had heard this song. The last time was probably sometimes early in her high school career in some Upper East Side condo party thrown by an upperclassman who was probably blowing his dad's money on coke and whores now. Even though it had been so long, Rachel still remembered the lyrics to the song thanks to her memory and couldn't help but join in thanks to the sheer joy of the people singing around her.

It had been a long time since Rachel had sung with a group of people just for the sheer joy of it. Sure, she sang with her fellow cast mates nearly every day but that was different. It was their job to constantly practice numbers until they could perform even the most complicated routine with their eyes closed. The number of repetitive rehearsals they had to go through could suck the joy out of even the most cheerful person as their performance was picked apart by the director, choreographer, and theater manager. But here, just singing with the seven people around her, there was no pressure to hit every note or remember the blocking and cues for a scene and it reminded Rachel of why she loved singing so much.

The song ended much too fast for Rachel's liking as they all laughed and cheered for each other between the final shout outs and the chorus as the song faded out. Mike, who had gotten up to dance, extremely well she might add, made his way to the grill to bring back a plate of food while Sam brought over a cooler of drinks so the entire party and conversation concentrated around the lounging women for a while.

"No way, the Flash would definitely beat Superman in a footrace around the world."

"Are you kidding? He's fucking Superman, there's no way he'd lose!"

"Jesus, are you two dorks still arguing over this shit?" Santana said, interrupting the argument Sam and Noah were having.

"Fuck you, this is important." Puck replied.

"No, it's not." Santana slid down her sunglasses and glared at them, "Please tell me you two retards aren't going to go on about this the entire summer like you did with pirates and ninjas last year."

Sam looked over at Noah. "I still say an army of ninjas would beat an army of pirates."

"Fuck no, pirates are badass. Ninjas are a bunch of pussies for because they need to kill shit at night."

Santana threw her hands up as everyone else laughed and she said, "Oh my god. Someone please shut them up," as Noah and Sam continued their argument over her protest.

"I'll stop arguing when Puck says I'm right."

"Fuck you. There's no way you're right. Pirates would beat the shit outta ninjas."

"No way, ninjas know karate and stuff. Pirates don't know shit."

"You wanna see some karate?" Noah shoved Sam into the pool causing even more laughter from the people around the pool, "Now that's fucking karate!"

Sam coughed and sputtered his way back to the surface and splashed some water in Noah's direction.

"Hey! Watch the splashing!" Quinn yelled while Noah laughed even harder.

Mike winked at Rachel and peeled off his shirt before he got up and threw his arm around Noah's shoulders.

"Remember that summer before senior year when you started that prank war?" Mike asked Noah.

"Yea, what about it?"

"Remember how Sam and I formed an alliance to get back at you?"

"Yea, so what?"

"We never called that off." Mike said before he dragged Noah towards the pool and jumped in, taking Noah with him.

The four lounging girls laughed and egged on the guys splashing around in the pool by questioning their manhood due to the weak splashes they produced. That only led to the guys in the pool splashing water at the girls causing them to jump out of their seats to get away from their tormentors. Quinn, Santana, and Brittany merely took a few steps away to move out of reach from the splashing while Rachel made a beeline straight for something to hide behind, which turned out to be Finn.

He grinned at her. "Scared of a little water?"

A glare was shot his way. "No, I just don't feel like getting wet. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Why are you just standing around here in those warm-up pants? Shouldn't you be in the pool tormenting the women along with your fellow Neanderthals?"

"Uh," Finn glanced down at his pants, "I don't really feel like getting wet either."

Rachel gave Finn a curious look before returning to her seat along with the other women since the three people in the pool had finally stopped their childish behavior and climbed out. Finn, Sam, and Mike made their way back to the grill to scrounge up more food while Noah made his way over to the women to shamelessly flirt with them. Of course, he quickly became bored with the three he already knew and quickly focused his attention on Rachel, much to her consternation.

"So what'd you say, we're both hot Jews," He waggled his eyebrows, "we should get together and make an even hotter Jew."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "That is one of the worst lines I've ever heard. Don't you have something better to do than harass me?"

"Nah, not really."

Again, her eyes were rolled. "Okay, then maybe you can answer a question for me."

He smirked at her. "Only if it has something to do with us being hot Jews."

"Why is Finn still wearing those ridiculous warm-up pants?"

The smirk fell off his face. "That has nothing to do with us being hot Jews."

She gave him a fake smile. "I never said I'd ask you a question about that."

"Means I'm not fucking answering it then."

"Why not? Isn't it strange that Finn hasn't taken off those ridiculous pants at a pool party?"

"Uh," His eyes darted around before settling onto some point off to his left, "Probably wants to keep his legs nice and pale, Finn's girly like that."

Rachel narrowed her eyes at the ridiculous explanation given to her because from what she had seen, none of Finn's habits could be taken for being girly. So, she knew that Noah was lying to her. She just couldn't figure out why and it annoyed her as she once again had to fend off Noah's advances. It continued to annoy her until Mike dragged her out of her chair to teach her how to Dougie which was when she put it together.

Football injury.

Leg.

The Neanderthal was embarrassed about his injury. That's why he refused to remove those hideous pair of warm-up pants and seconds later was when Rachel realized the perfect way to get back at him. She humored Mike and his dance lesson for a few more minutes while she figured out her plan before excusing herself and heading over to the Neanderthal who was talking with Quinn and Santana.

"Finn!"

He turned his head. "What's up?"

As with most her plans, Rachel settled on short but not quite sweet. "Aren't you going to go swimming this afternoon?"

Confusion spread over his face. "Uh, why do you care?"

"You wouldn't want to have wasted such a nice day would you? Wait, you do have swim trunks under there right?"

"I do, still don't see why you care."

"I'm just trying return the favor since you've been so nice to me during the time I've stayed with you."

His eyes narrowed. "Did you hit your head or something yesterday? Because you've been acting weird."

She plastered a smile on her face. "No, I didn't hit my head. I just think a swim would be quite refreshing in this heat, especially since you've spent most of the day around the grill."

"It's not that hot. I think I'll be fine." Finn said as he turned back around to other two women.

Rachel looked down as she pushed away the urge to stamp her foot. The frustration she felt from all the little things that hadn't gone her way ever since she stepped foot into this godforsaken town built up inside of her causing her to bite back a scream. Her eyes narrowed and a grin slowly formed on her face as she realized just what kind of warm-up pants the Neanderthal was wearing. All that frustration melted away as she thought that it was time for something more direct as she stepped up right behind her target.

"Well, I think I'll just help you out of those pants then." Rachel said as she grabbed a hold of Finn's pants causing him to begin to turn around.

"What are you-" was all Finn could get out before Rachel yanked on his pants causing the buttons that lined the legs of each side to release.

Rachel cried out victoriously, "Ha!" as she whipped away the pants with a flourish as if she was fighting a bull.

Finn didn't know what sort of reaction Rachel was expecting to get from her action but judging from the rapidly disappearing grin on her face it wasn't the one she got. The conversations around the pool quickly died and the only thing that filled the awkward silence was Katy Perry's insanely upbeat new single. The song provided a strange soundtrack to the event since it didn't fit the mood around the pool at all as almost everyone was gaping at Rachel who was standing in front of Finn while holding up his pants. The only two people who weren't gaping at them were Santana and Quinn who both looked as though they wanted to tear Rachel limb from limb.

Rachel's eyes darted around the pool as the thought sunk in that maybe this wasn't the best idea she had ever had. "I guess no one liked my little joke…?" was said before a few nervous chuckles escaped from her. A look up at Finn saw him with a blank expression. This was probably better than the looks of fury that were being given to her by Quinn and Santana from behind him, at least Rachel hoped it was better.

The pants were held in front of Finn for a moment before he slowly took them from her grasp. Just like when she was on stage, all eyes were on her as she made her way back to her seat. Although in this case, Rachel wasn't exactly thrilled at all the attention that was being given to her as she usually was. Her drink was picked from the table beside her as she tried to ignore the stunned and angry stares being given to her from the party, but especially the blank one from Finn.

After staring at her for what seemed to be hours, Finn finally turned around and made his way to the now unused grill. Santana quickly followed him and after shooting her a glare Quinn followed suit. Everyone else at the party made their way over there leaving Rachel alone in her seat. All she could do was sip at her drink and listen to the sugary pop music coming from the outdoor speakers as she ignored the furtive glances coming from the group.

Eventually, the little group gathering broke up and the party restarted itself, albeit at a much more subdued tone. Of course, everyone also treated Rachel as if she was carrying the plague, but she didn't think too much of it. It's not like she would be in town long enough to actually care what these people thought of her. So if they ignored her, she would ignore them right back. This is exactly what everyone did for the rest of the party.

"Hey."

Of course Noah would be the only one brazen enough to talk to her just as the party was wrapping up.

"Hello."

"So my man Finn said I didn't have to do this, but I figured I'd do it anyway cause it needed to be done. Hope we can still get together after."

She slid her sunglasses down and looked up at him. "Do what exactly?"

"This," he said before picking her up and walking over to the pool.

"Noah Puckerman, put me down this instant!" she screamed as she hit his arm.

"You got it."

"Wait! Don't you dare-" was all she got out before he unceremoniously tossed her into the deep end.

She coughed and sputtered after she swam her way back up to the surface as she slowly made her way to the side of the pool. Howls of laughter came from the three women lounging in the chairs while she clung to the side of the pool and tried to regain her breath. The sunglasses which were caught in her hair were pulled out of the now tangled mess and flung on top of her chair. Part of the tangled mess had fallen in front of her face which she was now blowing at, trying to get it to move.

"I told Puck not to do this," she heard Finn say from above her.

Her hair was pushed out of the way and she began to look up but her gaze stopped right in front of her. She stared at Finn's lower left leg, unable to help herself. Lines of scars ran up and down the skin, starting above and below two jagged and somewhat circular scars. From Finn's earlier resistance, she figured that his leg would've been much more grotesque looking. But from where she was treading water, the collection of scars didn't look so bad.

"Hey, my eyes are up here," he said as he waved a hand in front of her face before pointing at his eyes.

She met his eyes. "Sorry, I, uh, didn't mean to stare."

"Sure you didn't," he said as he held out his hands.

Rachel grabbed them with her own and he started to pull her out of the pool. With a bit of disappointment, she noticed that he barely looked over her wet body as he pulled her out. She kept in decent enough shape so her body wasn't that bad. He must've been more upset with her than she thought. Of course, if he was so upset with her then he probably wouldn't have pulled her out of the pool. Maybe Finn was a bit more complicated than she initially thought.

"Thanks."

"Don't thank me just yet," he said as he put a hand on her chest.

She gave him a confused look and began to say, "What are-" before Finn shoved her back into the pool.

After making her way back to the surface, again, she heard Finn yell, "Cannonball!" before he jumped into the pool beside her. The water that splashed over her made her cough and sputter as she treaded water. Finn quickly popped up beside her and swam his way to the edge of the pool before pulling himself out. He turned around and they found themselves back in the same place they were mere minutes ago.

Just like before he pulled her out of the pool. Only this time he handed her a towel. "Make sure you dry yourself as much as possible. Don't want you getting the seat in my truck all wet," he said as she started to dry herself off.

"Yes, I'm sure you don't want your piles of water bottles and burger wrappers to be ruined by a few drops of water." The comeback was whipped out of her mouth before she had a chance to think about the situation. Her eyes snapped shut as she thought that if he wasn't mad at her before, he'd definitely be mad at her now. A deep breath was taken before she opened her eyes to find Finn with that awkward looking half smile plastered all over his face.

"That's right. It took me forever to get all those bottles and wrappers just the way I like them."

With a roll of her eyes she started to dry her hair off the best she could while everyone else cleaned up the pool area. The clean up was finished just as Rachel pulled her shirt down over her body. This let her go through some awkward goodbyes with everyone at the party: Quinn and Santana barely hid their looks of disgust, Mike and Sam gave her sheepish smiles, and unsurprisingly Noah tried to flirt with her again.

Rachel climbed into the passenger's seat and waited while Finn loaded the mostly empty coolers into the truck bed. The ride home started out silent between them except for sounds of Maroon 5's new CD coming from the stereo system. But Rachel couldn't deny her need to speak, any more than water could stop being wet. So she asked the one question that was running through her mind.

"Are you mad at me?" she asked as she stared off straight ahead, not really wanting to see what his reaction would be.

A bark of laughter escaped his lips. "Mad? Of course I'm mad at you."

Her head fell forward just a bit. "You didn't seem that mad back at the party…"

"Yea well, I don't know why you did that; but I guess I'd forgotten that none of them cares how fucked up my leg looks now."

"You leg doesn't look bad at all."

He gave her a funny look before continuing to speak. "But you were right, it got pretty hot in those pants and jumping in the pool did feel awesome. Plus, if I flipped out, Quinn and Santana would've tore you a new one at the party and then made your life a living hell while you stayed here. That would make my mom _tear_ me a new one. So yea, easy choice."

"Still didn't stop Noah from throwing me into the pool," she bitterly replied.

"At least he didn't go with his first suggestion."

"Which was?"

She chanced a glance at him and saw he had a small grin on his face. "Stripping you naked then throwing you into the pool," her mouth fell open as his grin widened, "But, being the nice guy that I am I told him not to do anything. Course, Puck being the thick-headed SOB that he is still threw you into the water even after I said I'd get you back."

"Well, that was nice of- wait, what?"

He glanced over at her and that stupid half smile was on his face again. "Did I forget to mention that you'll be cleaning up the shop alone at the end of every day for the next week? Maybe longer?"

She was really beginning to hate that stupid crooked smile of his.

"That'll take forever!"

"Well," he shrugged, "you can't go around doing stupid things without having them come back and eventually biting you in the ass."

She closed her eyes and groaned as her head hit the headrest.

"So, how did you know about my leg?"

"Your screaming woke me up two nights ago and Burt explained your injury to me after scaring me half to death."

He grimaced and ran a hand over his face. "Crap. Sorry about that. You'd think I'd always remember to close the door after a year of living down there."

She smirked at him. "Well, not everyone's memory can be as perfect as me."

He rolled his eyes. "I still don't get why you ripped off my pants, especially since you knew about my leg."

Her eyes narrowed. "Burt also told me about whose shirt I've been wearing to sleep since I've been here."

A grimace appeared on his face. "Surprise?"

"You thought it'd be hilarious if I kept thinking that was Kurt's shirt didn't you?"

"Yea, kinda. But, you thought it'd be pretty funny to keep teasing me with it and you even kept wearing it after your stuff finally got here; I figured you actually liked wearing it. So…"

She waited a beat before picking up his train of thought. "So, you thought if you told me that it was your shirt I would've flung it at your face?"

"Something like that."

She gave him a smirk. "Well, I probably would have."

A moment of silence fell over them before she picked up the conversation again.

"You don't mind that I've been wearing your shirt for over a week?"

He shook his head. "Nah, I don't really wear those shirts that much. I mean, I really only have them since Kurt kept screaming about how every guy needs a few dress shirts."

"So, I can keep wearing that shirt?"

He gave her a confused look. "Uh, yea, if you want."

She grinned at him in response.

An entire song played before she heard Finn speak again. "So, you and uh, Puck eh?"

Her eyes shot open and she looked over with a grin on her face. "Why Finn Hudson, are you jealous that Noah is flirting with me?"

"No! I just wanted you to know that Puck's a man-whore. So, uh, yea, Puck's a man-whore."

Her grin widened. "Well, I can take care of myself when it comes to relationships and I had no intention of going out with Noah. But thank you for the warning in any case." Her grin widened even more, "Also, it's a good thing you aren't falling for me because I don't think you could handle me in a romantic relationship."

He looked over at her and scoffed. Once again, Maroon 5 was the only thing filling the silence in the truck until Finn spoke up again.

"Better make sure you don't do that either."

She looked over confused. "Don't do what exactly?"

He looked over at her and grinned. "Fall for me. I'd hate to have to break your heart."

"Really?" She grinned back, "I think you have it backwards. I would be the one breaking your heart."

His grin widened. "No way. You'd definitely be the one crying over me with a broken heart."

"Well, it's a good thing we'll never find out right?"

"Right."

They looked at each other for a moment before they both burst out laughing. Their laughter, along with Maroon 5, filled the truck and provided the soundtrack for the rest of their ride home.

* * *

A/N 2: Not too thrilled with the way this chapter turned out. I can definitely see myself endlessly rewriting parts of this shit for a long, long time.

Something specific you liked? Constructive criticism? A suggestion for the story? Leave a review.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: The revisions for this story have already begun! Two plot holes have been filled. The last scene in the previous chapter has been updated with more dialogue thanks to a reminder from the anonymous reviewer Daki. The second chapter will be updated tomorrow with some more dialogue between Rachel and Jessica because I can't plan for shit. I've also stuck a quick scene into this chapter to close the plot hole for those who don't want to reread. This notice will be deleted with the next update.

Speaking of planning, quite a few suggestions I've received are already planned for this story. There are a few that I may or may not use depending on how much I want to whore myself out to my readership. Although, if Glee has taught me anything, it's that whoring yourself out is a great way to boost your audience. So, I may just do it. We'll see.

As always, thanks for reading and reviewing.

* * *

Imagine for a moment, if you will, that this was a movie.

This scene would open with the camera tight in on Rachel's white – well, it was mostly grayish now – monkey as it tumbled through the air in slow motion. All four of its limbs would be flopping around like a ragdoll as it slowly rotated around each of its three axes. The camera would then zoom out slightly, showing more of the out-of-focus background, and then quickly rotate left around the monkey's z-axis, making it seem as though the little stuffed animal was headed straight toward the viewer.

From there, the camera would quickly bring the background into focus and we would see that the monkey was on a relatively flat parabolic arc originating from Rachel's outstretched right hand. She'd be curled up in the recliner to the right of the sofa clad in Finn's light blue dress shirt and the pair of shorts which had quickly become her pajamas of choice during her stay in Lima. Another camera rotation, this time 180 degrees around the x-axis, and we would be following directly behind the monkey as it made its way toward the target: Finn Hudson's face.

"Did you really just say that all of that out loud before throwing this at me?" Finn said as he held up the monkey after it had hit him on the side of the face.

Rachel threw up her hands. "I'm bored! There's nothing else to do!"

"You could go – On your left – sing in your room again. You love doing that," he said before glancing at the monkey in his right hand then stuffing it between his back and the couch.

"Hey! You're gonna squish him!"

"He'll be fine. I bet he's tougher – Yea, I see them – than he looks," Finn said as he returned to his attention to the video game in front of him.

Rachel shot out of her seat and smacked Finn's arm over and over again, ignoring the "ow" he muttered, until he leaned forward letting her retrieve her monkey. She flopped down next to him on the couch before she said, "And you know I can't sing in my room. Your neighbors have complained that I've been singing too loud for too many days, which I still don't understand."

"Jeez, you are freakishly strong and yea, I have no idea why they minded you singing at the top of your lungs for a few hours every day for the past three days."

"Your sarcasm is not appreciated."

Finn killed a few on-screen zombies. "Got 'em. Well, you could always sing in the basement."

"I could, but I'd much rather sing where people have the chance to appreciate my vocal abilities," she turned to look at him, "You could always come down with me and listen to me!"

He shook his head. "No way, killing zombies."

"But I'm bored!"

"I told you – Dude, behind you – to make plans with Quinn and Santana."

Rachel let out a breath. "I'm pretty sure they don't want to hang out with me."

"Give them some time," Finn said as he jabbed a few buttons on the controller, "They didn't seem that angry with you last night at the bar."

"And they haven't talked with you about me at all?"

"Nah, I wouldn't worry about it… Although, they're both pretty scary when they're not talking, usually means they're planning something really evil…"

"You- You're no help at all!"

"What about Sam, Mike, and Artie. You seemed to get along with them fine."

"I would rather not be the only female with them. They're so… geeky when they're together."

Finn chuckled and shook his head. "You could go hang out with Puck?"

She smacked his arm again. "I don't want to hang out with that crude animal!"

He glanced at her. "He says he doesn't want to hang out with someone who has a stick up their ass."

A punch was thrown at his arm.

"Hey! His words, not mine!"

"Tell Noah that his childish and crude insults have no effect on me. And tell Noah that I didn't appreciate the strong drinks he kept serving me yesterday. I'm not the sort of woman who will sleep with anyone because of a few drinks."

"Use your bomb. Did you hear what she said? Dude, use your bomb. What? Hell no. There's no way I'm saying that to her," Rachel watched as Finn's on-screen character was swarmed by zombies, "Use your bomb!"

Finn's character spun around faster and faster, trying to delay the inevitable before it died from the hordes of zombies.

"Dude, where was the bomb?" Finn shook his head at the response Puck gave, "Whatever, wanna go again? We could probably get Artie and Sam to play," his controller was flung onto the sofa and his headset followed after he said, "Alright, later dude."

The television was changed to ESPN and Finn became engrossed in the highlights until Rachel could stand it no longer.

"So, what are our plans for the weekend? You can't tell me that you intend to spend all weekend on the sofa watching TV."

"Uh, I've got some plans this weekend that don't include you."

"What?"

"Yea, why'd you think I kept telling you to make plans with someone this weekend?"

"Because you hate spending time with me?"

Finn's head bobbed back and forth as he considered her statement. "Well, that was the other reason."

His arm was smacked again.

"So…" she turned to face him, "What are you doing this weekend?"

"None of your business."

"Can I come with you?"

"No."

"Can I come with you?"

"No."

"Can I come with you?"

"No."

Before Rachel could ask her question again, Finn started poking her on the side of her head.

"What exactly are you trying to do?"

"I'm trying to figure out which button to push to turn off repeat. But, I guess the power button would work too."

"Very clever. And why can't I come with you?"

"Because it's none of your business."

"But I'm bored!"

"Not my problem."

She stared at him for a few moments. "Can I come with you?"

Finn sighed. "You'd be bored there too."

"At least you'd be there to annoy."

He turned his head to look at her. "Yea, that's a real good reason for me to bring you."

"At least I'd be out of the house…?"

"Could've gone with my parents to volunteer at the church to do that."

"And do more work? No thank you. So… can I come with you?'

"No."

She pursed her lips and said, "You know, I could just get in your truck when you leave."

He shook his head. "Jesus, if you want to come with me that badly then be my guest. Just don't blame me when you're bored to death there."

She grinned at him. "I knew I'd be able to convince you."

"Whatever. Be ready to go in an hour or I'm leaving you here."

She flashed him another bright smile and started to head upstairs to get ready.

"Oh," she turned around at his interruption, "don't wear heels."

* * *

"Are we there yet?"

"We'll get there when we get there."

"I'm just curious as to where we're going and when we'll get there." Rachel said as she fiddled with the stereo system.

"Yea, I figured and I don't know why you're in a rush to get there. You're just gonna be bored," Finn smacked her hand, "and stop messing with the music. I'm driving so it's my choice."

"Be that as it may," she reached for the stereo again, "your music selection this afternoon is terrible and I refuse to listen to another second of whatever this is."

"This is uh," he slapped her hand away again, "dubstep I think."

"Well, whatever it is, it's terrible. I can't believe people actually listen to these mindless beats that seem to go on forever."

"Yea," he shrugged his shoulders, "I don't get why people like this stuff either."

"What?" Her eyes narrowed, "If you don't like this, then why are we listening to it?"

"I figured this stuff would bother you, since you seem to like stuff with lyrics, especially if they're sappy."

Her jaw fell. "You… you… I hate you."

The hated crooked grin made another appearance.

She continued to try to change the music. "Why do you have a whistle around your neck?"

He continued to stop her. "Why do you ask so many questions?"

"I can't help my inquisitive nature."

"Well, you'll see when we get there."

Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the whistle. "That isn't my rape whistle is it?"

He scoffed. "No, I didn't need to rummage through your things for a whistle."

"Good. I don't like to share my things."

"Really. You don't like to share. I would've never guessed that."

She smacked his arm a few times and when he tried to stop her from continuing, she reached around and finally succeeded in changing the music. "Ha! Got it!"

"Doesn't matter. We're here," Finn said as he pulled into a driveway.

"William McKinley High School?"

"Yea. Welcome to my old high school."

Finn parked his truck and grabbed a messenger bag from the middle seat before getting out. Rachel followed suit and trailed him as he headed towards the field behind the school.

"So, what are we doing here?"

"Football practice."

"Are you purposely trying to annoy me again?"

"Nope, take a look," Finn said as he waved an arm towards the field.

Rachel looked towards the field and finally noticed that the dozen or so people already there. Three of them were throwing footballs as the others ran across the field catching them. Off to the side, overseeing them all was a large man with his arms crossed and a whistle around his neck. He barked out a few suggestions as Finn and Rachel slowly made their way over.

"Why did you bring me to football practice? Don't you realize how bored I'll be here?"

He looked at her in disbelief. "You're the one who wanted to come along and for the hundredth time, I told you to make plans this weekend," he looked away before she could respond and shouted, "Hey Coach Beast!"

The man turned to return Finn's greeting and that was when Rachel realized that the man wasn't a man at all, just a very masculine looking woman.

"Finn, glad you could finally join us."

Finn jerked his head towards Rachel. "She took too long getting ready, as usual."

"Hey! I didn't take that long!"

Finn ignored her comment. "Coach Beast this is Rachel, she's a uh, family friend. Rachel, this is my old coach, Shannon Beiste."

The football coach nodded at Rachel. "Nice to meet you Rachel. Although, I don't know why Finn dragged you all the way out here just to watch a football practice."

Rachel returned the nod with a serious expression. "Yes, I don't understand why he did either."

"Huh? That's not what-"

"Alright, enough chatter. Go run some drills Hudson."

Finn sighed and said, "Yes ma'am," before heading over to where the players were passing footballs around.

"Hey Mike," Finn nodded at his old teammate before addressing the other players. "Alright guys, Coach Beast do warm ups already?"

"Yea Finn," said Troy, the starting QB, as all the other players gathered around Finn.

"Okay then, three-step drop drill. Let's go," Finn clapped his hands as everyone began to move.

"Whoa whoa, this is our first practice man. No need to rush," Troy waved everyone to a stop. "Let's talk about that hot chick you came with."

"She's not hot."

One of the other guys spoke up. "Looks pretty hot in that dress from where I'm standing."

Finn looked behind him and saw that Rachel was laughing along with Coach Beast. Her laughter barely tickled his ears from that distance but he would've known it was her even without turning around. There was a musical quality about it that he'd never heard before in a laugh and it sounded nice. Then again, anything would sound nice compared to the endless babbling that usually came out of her mouth.

"Yea okay, she's hot when she's not talking which is never," Finn pointed towards a spot near the middle of the field and blew his whistle to emphasize his order. "Enough talking, three-step drop drills. Now."

A few more musical notes of laughter reached his ears and he wondered what could possibly be so funny. Coach Beast wouldn't tell her that story… would she?

* * *

"So, that's when Finn looks up and sees the entire team before they burst out laughing."

"Oh my God. I can't believe he fell for that," Rachel said in between her roaring laughter.

"It gets better. After the team stops laughing at him, he says, 'I didn't know this stuff burned so much.'"

This caused Rachel to laugh even harder, so hard that a few undignified snorts escaped her mouth. Coach Beastie only chuckled when Rachel looked up with an embarrassed expression.

"That was a hilarious anecdote. I could definitely see him doing something like that."

Coach Beastie considered the thought for a moment. "Guess he doesn't show that side of himself to too many people anymore."

"Really? He doesn't seem too different around other people."

Coach Beastie turned her head to look at Rachel. "How long have you known Finn? I've met almost all of his family's friends but I don't remember you."

"I actually only just meet him a few weeks ago."

"Huh…"

They both watched as Finn led the high school players through a few drills as he and Mike gave them advice and suggestions when needed. Finn and Mike even demonstrated what they wanted to be done a few times. From what Rachel could tell, they seemed to be highly competent football players. Of course, it wasn't as if she could actually tell if they were competent or not, but it appeared as though that everyone thought they were since they paid attention to their advice. Every once in a while, Coach Beastie would whistle then bark out her own suggestions and advice.

"It's nice of you to let Finn and Mike help out with your team."

"Nice? Are you kidding me? I'm thankful every day that I have two stud football players to help me out at practice in the summer. And of course one is with me the entire year, not that I'd ever be happy with that though."

"Surely you don't need their help. You were _their_ coach after all."

"I may be a fine high school football coach but those two go to one of the biggest and best college football programs in the country. They have multiple coaches for every position, a weight and nutrition staff, a video room just for film study, and tutors to help out with their regular class work. They take their football seriously there," Coach Beastie chuckled. "Meanwhile, I'm lucky that I have two part-time assistants during the school year. One of whom doesn't help out during the summer. So, having two kids who've breathed, eaten, and slept football for years is really helpful."

"Really? I didn't know that…"

"Don't know much about Finn's college career do you?"

Rachel shrugged. "I know that his injury prevented him from playing again. But aside from that, no I do not know much about his career."

"Well let me tell you about Finn Hudson the football player then," she pointed at Finn. "That kid over there was one of the best college quarterbacks in the country and as fans liked to call him: the most recent savior of Buckeye football."

"I find it hard to believe that Finn was their savior."

The coach chuckled. "Well, football fans around here can be a little obsessed, but they had a point. After Tressel resigned the program went downhill. Fans in this state expect to win all the time and a few years of mediocre win totals weren't helping the new coach make any fans in the state," she let out a breath. "Then it looked like things were about to get even worse when his starting QB got hurt and all he had was this freshman no one knew about."

"I assume that the freshman was Finn?"

"Yea, he was the freshman that no one knew about and he got off to a rough start: lost his first two games. But, his third game he led the team to a big comeback win and then he reeled off nine straight wins, including a bowl game."

"That sounds very impressive."

The coach nodded. "You bet it was. You don't see true freshman come in off the bench and lead their team to a ten and three season. Course, it didn't hurt that Mike was turning out to be one of the best wide-outs in football either. They got even better their sophomore year and started the season 10 and 0. Mike was gonna win the Biletnikoff and Finn had a pretty good chance to win the Heisman, which is almost never given to a sophomore."

"What are those?"

"Oh, the Biletnikoff is given to the best wide-out in football and the Heisman is given to the best player in football."

"So, they're like the Tony Awards for college football?"

"What're the Tony Awards?"

"They're like the Oscars or Grammys but for Broadway."

"Then yea, I guess the Biletnikoff is like one of Best Supporting Actor awards given out and the Heisman is like Album of the Year."

Rachel raised her eyebrows. "Finn was that good?"

"Sure was. It's a damn shame he got hurt so young," Coach Beastie said as she shook her head.

They watched as Finn demonstrated what he wanted done for the next drill.

Rachel crossed her arms and pointed her chin towards Finn. "I don't understand why Finn can't play anymore. He seems to be able to move very well."

"It's not that he can't move. It's that his leg can't stand up to the number of reps he'd have to go through to play," she looked over and saw that Rachel hadn't understood at all. "His broken bones didn't heal properly so they're not strong enough for him to play," another look showed her that the words still hadn't explained it to Rachel. "See, at that level football players practice hours every day and he has to go full speed pretty much every practice and when he's not doing on-field work, he'd be doing weight training. All those repetitions put a lot of stress on his legs. Stress that his bones just can't handle."

"Is it really that bad? It doesn't look like he puts too much stress on his legs."

"Look closer," the coach pointed at Troy who was imitating Finn's actions. "See how Troy plants himself? Throwing power doesn't all come from the upper body. A lot of it comes from the legs and how they provide a base for the entire body to rotate around. Watch how Finn limits his follow-through while Troy can really put everything behind a throw."

Rachel's eyes darted back and forth between the two throwers. "There doesn't seem to be that great of a difference."

"Yea, everyone thought that he was fine but he started to get pain in his leg as he started practicing again and x-rays showed he had stress fractures. Docs did some tests and that was that. His career was over before it had really got started."

"That's awful…"

"All he ever wanted was to make it out of here and football was his ticket. Now he's stuck here trying to help other kids get out of Lima with football."

Rachel watched as Finn threw another ball to Mike who speeding downfield. "That's tragically ironic, but I suppose things haven't turned out too badly for you."

Coach Beastie pursed her lips. "You know, I would give back every win I had if it meant Finn wasn't around to help me in the fall," she started to walk off towards the players. "It was nice meeting you but they're starting to goof off and I need to crack the whip."

* * *

If Finn closed his eyes he could almost imagine himself playing back at the Shoe: the smell of fresh cut grass and newly painted chalk lines, the feel of the springy grass under his feet, the rough texture of a football in his hands, and the voices of the players around him. But there were differences that stood out: the sneakers on his feet would never have the same grip as a pair of spikes, a different set of calluses that made it hard to get a good feel of the ball, he couldn't hear the dull roar of the crowd, and he could never bring himself to fully trust his left leg again.

Still, there was a reason Finn was one of the most highly recruited quarterbacks his senior year of high school. His eyes popped open and quickly found Mike streaking down the sideline about 30 yards away. Just two years ago he'd be able to wait until Mike was 50 yards away and still be able to hit him in stride. Now, the best he could safely do was hit something 40 yards away and with the way Mike ate up the field at full stride he'd be further away than Finn's range in no time at all.

He planted his feet and brought the ball back by cocking his arm. His left foot was pointed in the direction of where he wanted the ball to go, which was just ahead of where Mike was. His hips rotated slightly to the right before quickly springing back to the left. This increased the torque of his arm as it quickly uncoiled itself from behind his head. He released the ball a little earlier than usual to give it more hang time so Mike could run under the ball and catch it in stride. Of course, he remembered not to completely follow through to reduce the stress that his left leg had to bear.

Finn laughed as Mike goofed off and high-stepped it into the end zone, something he'd never do in a real game but loved to do in practice. He then stepped aside to let Coach Beast install some of the basic plays of her offense. It was pretty early in the summer and most of the players had been on the team last year, but Finn was sure that every coach thought it was never too early to start practicing for the next season.

Finn turned around and spotted another difference as he headed towards the sideline. His houseguest was looking completely bored as she swung her right foot back and forth, barely grazing the grass. Her dress fluttered higher and higher around her legs as she swung faster and higher, as though she was doing some sort of exercise. All Finn could do while he walked towards her was be hypnotized by her leg as it swung back and forth, higher and higher. That is, until she spotted him coming and stopped swinging her leg which caused his eyes to dart up to meet hers.

The slack, bored expression had turned into a smirk as he approached her. "Finished yet?"

"Why? Are you bored?" Finn said as he stepped past her to grab one of the bottles of water sitting on the bench.

"No, this has been quite entertaining to watch."

Finn took a long drink. "Really?"

"Yes."

He glanced at her. "Really?"

She glared at him. "Really."

"Good cause we're not done yet."

Her eyebrows shot up. "What?"

Another glance was shot her way. "I thought you were being entertained."

"Why the hell would I be entertained!" she threw her arms up in the air. "I'm being bored to death here!"

"So you were lying to me just now."

"Of course I was lying to you! I've never found football to be interesting!"

Finn looked over her and thought that there was something missing from the picture. "Where's your phone?"

"I left it at home because you were rushing me. This is all your fault!"

"My fault? You're the one who wanted to come in the first place!"

"Only because you wouldn't tell me what you were doing!"

"I said you'd be bored here," he took another drink. "Maybe you should listen to me every once in a while."

Finn looked over when he didn't hear a response and saw that she was blowing air from the side of her mouth trying to move a strand of hair away from her face. "You must really be bored if that's how you're trying to entertain yourself."

She blew at her hair one more time. "So why do come assist your old coach?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"What's the point? There's nothing to gain from doing it."

He glanced over at her while taking another drink of water. "Not much of a team player are you."

She shrugged. "I am when I need to be, but I don't really like it."

Finn chuckled and shook his head. "I figured a New Yorker like you might say something like that."

"And what's wrong with my philosophy?"

"Nothing's wrong with it. It's just… Don't you feel kinda special when you're with a group of people all working together?"

Rachel scoffed. "No, the only people who should feel special are the talented ones. Everyone else should feel grateful to have the opportunity to work with them."

It was Finn's turn to scoff. "Those are the kind of people everyone on a team hates."

He would've sworn she looked sad for a moment as she looked down before she pursed her lips and said, "Well it doesn't matter as long as they have the most talent."

He scoffed again. "Yea it does. They're called team sports for a reason. Even the most talented players in history wouldn't have won without their teammates," he pointed at Mike. "Take Mike, that guy is the most talented wide-out on his team but he knows that he can't be the primary target of every play. So he doesn't complain when he isn't the first option. He still plays hard even though he knows he won't get the ball because it helps the team and he doesn't complain about it. I've played with guys who complain about not getting the ball enough and half-assing it when they don't and no one liked them; no matter how much talent they had."

"Well, what if that player complains but does his job and works hard all the time?"

Finn sighed. "That's better but they better not expect to hang out with the most of the team; the stuck up people usually hang out with each other. Until you know, they start to hate each other because they think they're better than everyone else."

Rachel's eyes widened before her eyebrows furrowed. "Okay fine, you're a nice guy who enjoys helping out," she swept her arm towards the field. "But what about Troy? Why is he helping out players that are trying to take his job?"

He gave her a look of disbelief. "You're kidding right?"

"No, I am not."

He shook his head. "What part of team sport don't you understand? What'd you want Troy to do?" she opened her mouth to respond but Finn kept talking. "Ignore his backups?" she tried again but he wouldn't let her. "What if he gets hurt and the backup QB has to play? And he's a senior, so he's gone after this season and he wants his team to be good next year and the year after that and the year after that. Players want their teams to win and to do that you need the strongest team possible. You can't have that if no one helps anyone else!"

He shook his head again before draining his water. "Anyway, we shouldn't be here too much longer, first practice and all."

* * *

Rachel flopped down onto her bed after dinner, replaying the conversation she had with Finn earlier in the day. Without knowing it, he had said things that were eerily fitting in regards to her life back in New York. She wasn't delusional. She knew that the people she worked with didn't particularly enjoy it thanks to her pretentious attitude. And yes, she almost always hung out with people who had the same attitude as her which always led to backstabbing just as Finn said.

It was just how she always thought people with talent were supposed to act. But, Finn was talented, maybe as talented as her, and everyone seemed to love him. He even had a group of good friends. It just made no sense to Rachel. Talent was something to be put on a pedestal to be admired by the ones who had none. Not a thing to be spread among the masses. Rachel really disliked having her worldview disrupted.

Her cell phone interrupted her musings.

"Hello?"

"Hey it's me."

"Jessica! Am I finally being let out of my prison?"

Jessica laughed. "No, I was just checking in since I haven't been getting dozens of texts each day begging me to let you leave for a few days now."

"I've been busy…"

"Busy? Thought you said there was nothing to do there?"

"There isn't. The people I'm staying with have a son and he's been dragging me around town, boring me to death."

"Is this son cute? Wait, he's not jailbait is he? I don't feel like coming back there to bail you out."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "No, he's not jailbait and he's gorgeous. That is, until he opens his mouth, then he's gorgeously annoying and difficult to deal with."

Rachel could hear the grin in Jessica's voice as she said, "Sounds like a winner to me."

"Whatever. Please tell me I'll be finished with whatever this is soon."

"You'll be finished when your dads and I think you're finished."

Rachel groaned. "When is that going to be? I've already been here three weeks!"

"You'll be done when you're done," Rachel sighed. "Oh, one more thing. _He_ called and asked how you were doing."

Rachel shot up and began pacing around her room. "_He_ called _you_ to ask about _me? _That idiotic imbecile. How dare he not have the courage to ask me himself. I hope you didn't tell him anything."

Jessica scoffed. "Of course not, who do you think I am? I told him to call you and with that reaction I'm guessing he hasn't."

Rachel sighed and flopped back down onto her bed. "No, he hasn't."

"Can I give you some advice?"

"As long as you don't expect me to listen to it."

"I never do. But, you need to forget about him, you're too good for that stuck up, pretentious, asshole."

"We've been over this Jessica."

"I know, I know. You think you two are great together because you're so alike, but I know deep down inside you're nothing like him."

"So you keep repeating."

"Because I know it's true."

Rachel sighed, yet again. "Is that all?"

"You're remembering to keep a low profile right?"

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeesssssss."

"Then that's all. Night Rachel."

"Goodnight Jessica."

* * *

A/N2: Shorter update because I didn't want to go a month and a half between updates and what would've been the second part to this chapter is giving me trouble. So, I hope this bit is strong enough to stand on its own.

Something specific you loved? Something specific you hated? A suggestion? Leave a review.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I have no excuse for this long delay between updates other than I'm a horrible writer and an even worse person. I'm sorry.

As always, thanks for reading and reviewing.

* * *

Rachel's legs pumped up and down as she ran through a field of grass. The smell of the freshly mowed leaves of grass tickled her nose as her lungs contracted and expanded, processing the oxygen required by her running. She smiled and laughed as she spread her arms out running back and forth in the field. She hadn't felt this happy in a long time.

And it was all shattered by blaring horns.

Dark, shadowy figures towered over Rachel. They slowly moved about with their heads bowed, some veiled, hiding their faces from Rachel. Others, in plain sight, had grim looks covering their faces. But no matter what their heads and faces showed, they were all dressed in some sort of indistinct black clothing. They were all Rachel could see no matter which way she turned. She'd always disliked completely black outfits for some reason and being around so many was beginning to make her nervous.

Rachel yelled for her daddies before she saw a flutter of white from the corner of her eye, distracting her from her surroundings. She looked down and saw that she was dressed in a pure white sundress. She couldn't remember the last time she wore something so clean, simple, and modest as her fashion style had taken a decidedly more trendy and revealing path. Smoothing down her dress revealed that her feet were clad in white, Mary Jane flats; also something she hadn't worn in a long time due to her below average height.

Her musings over the outfit she was wearing were interrupted when she noticed light around her fade. She looked up and saw that the figures had begun to surround her, growing taller and taller as they approached her. Their grim faces were replaced with a terrifying look: teeth bared, eyes narrowed and burning with anger. As they neared her, Rachel began to cower and whimper, which was strange since she had never cowered or whimpered before in her life. But no matter how much she wanted to scream at the figures to get away from her, her body just wouldn't listen. To top things off, she felt unwanted tears rolling down her face.

After screaming for her daddies again, she felt herself stumble backwards as she tried to get away from the figures. They reached out to try and grab her; their fingertips brushed up against her arms and face, but she was able to stay out of their grasp by moving backwards even faster. The heel of her foot caught something as she blindly stumbled backwards and she fell and fell and fell.

Rachel's right leg kicked out as she landed on her soft bed and woke up. With a groan, she sat up and rubbed her face; she groaned again as she felt her tear stained cheeks. It had been a long time since she'd had a nightmare, let alone one so frightening as to make her cry in real life. What she needed was a long, hot shower; so she threw off the sheets, grabbed her toiletries, opened the door, and planted her face right into Finn's chest.

She stepped back and glared at him as she rubbed her nose. "Any reason you're standing outside my door?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I, uh, heard you screaming," her eyes widened just as his narrowed. "Were you crying?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but I had a nightmare."

"You, uh, wanna talk about it?"

"No, I just want to take a shower," Rachel said as she shook her head.

"Oh…yea sure," he said as he stepped aside.

A small smile was flashed in his direction before she made her way to the bathroom. There, she quickly stripped out of her shirt and shorts and stepped into the shower. She didn't know how long she let the hot water wash cascade over her as she tried to forget her dream. This was proving to be harder than she would've liked it to be. Normally her memories of dreams were fleeting and the more she tried to hold on to them the faster they disappeared. But the more she tried to let this one go, the more it stayed in her mind; it was just so vivid.

She sighed before she got around to quickly washing her hair and body. When her shirt was put back on, she tried not to think about how much she enjoyed the new smell the shirt as it combined with the her flowery body wash and shampoo. The stairs creaked as she trudged down them to make her way to the kitchen for her much needed morning caffeine injection. The aroma of coffee called out to her as she crossed the threshold to the kitchen and almost ran right into Finn's chest again.

"Whoa there," Finn said as he kept the cup of coffee he was holding from spilling. "What's the rush?"

"Coffee. Now."

The cup was held up. "Three cubes and a splash of milk right?"

"Yes," Rachel said as she stared at the cup for a long moment before taking it and sipping from it. "Why?"

He shrugged. "I know what it's like to wake up from a nightmare, a long shower and something to drink helps."

She tucked a few strands of damp hair that had snuck out of the towel on her head behind an ear and said, "Thank you."

That crooked smile of his made an appearance and she couldn't really find a reason to hate it at that moment before he walked past her and flopped onto the couch. He put on his headset and picked up the video game controller. "I'm back, dude. What? No, I had to get some coffee."

Rachel turned and saw an empty dining room and kitchen. So, she made her way to the living room and sat down on the opposite side of the sofa, tucking her legs underneath her. The TV grabbed their attention for different reasons: Finn was deeply focused on racing his car while Rachel used the on-screen actions as a distraction for her recent memory. Her coffee was slowly sipped as she watched Finn and his allies, presumably Puck; Artie; and Sam, race around multiple tracks. That was how they spent half an hour of their morning.

"So, where are Carole and Burt?" Rachel said after she returned from refilling her cup and retaking her seat.

"Church."

"Again?"

"Well, it is Sunday and they still have a lot to do to be ready for Tuesday."

"Why aren't you with them?"

"I'm uh… Let's just say I'm not too big on faith anymore."

Rachel fell silent as she concentrated a bit more on the action on the screen in front of her. What had originally looked like a simple race was actually some sort of team based game where each fast car was paired with a decidedly slower one that it had to help. There seemed to be no rules as to how the fast cars helped its slower teammate. So, the fast cars were constantly crashing into the slow ones as well as the fast ones, trying to hinder the progress of the slow car or defend their teammate from other fast cars.

Normally racing held no interest for Rachel, but there was something about this method of racing that amused her and held her attention. It was as if the faster cars were two cats running around playing with a pair of mice, constantly swatting at them and each other. As she became more and more engrossed with the competition in front of her, she scooted towards the edge of her seat. Unconsciously, she had even begun to lean in the direction of the turns that Finn was taking in the slow car, trying to help Finn's slow car go as fast as it could.

Rachel bit back a scream and gasped instead as a fast car slammed into Finn's car out of nowhere and ran him off the track. The next few moments had Rachel in agony as she watched Finn's car struggle to make it back to the track, allowing the other team's slow car to race past Finn.

Finn glanced at her. "You okay over there?"

"That car came out of nowhere!" she said as she threw her arms up. "That's not fair!"

"That's kinda the point."

"But you're gonna lose now!"

"Nah," Finn said as he shook his head. "There's plenty of time left. Plus, Puck is pretty awesome at this game. Watch."

Finn was right. As soon as his car was back on the track, Puck's car came speeding up behind Finn and pushed him along much faster than the slow car could ever go. When the pair had caught up to the other cars who had been trying to do the same thing as Puck was doing, albeit much more poorly, he tapped on his brakes and whipped around before crashing into the other pair of cars.

"Here listen to this," Finn said as he removed his headset and gave it to Rachel.

When she put them on, she heard Noah laughing maniacally and cursing at the other team for trying to mess with his boy and his boy's car. And of course, Noah gloated and laughed even harder when Finn easily crossed the finish line in first place. She rolled her eyes and handed the headset back to Finn as Noah began to curse at the other team. "I see that Noah is just as crude online as he is offline."

"He's probably a little worse online since no one really knows who he is. Course that doesn't really stop him at home…" Finn said as he put the headset back on. "Alright dude, I gotta go. See you Tuesday."

She looked over. "That's the second time you've mentioned Tuesday this morning."

"And?"

"What's on Tuesday?"

"Uh, July 4th?"

"Wait, it's already July?"

"Well, you see, the month of July usually comes after the 30th day of—"

She rolled her eyes. "I can't believe I've been here for almost a month. I should've been scratching out the days on my wall as if I was in prison."

"Well, you could do that, but then you'd just have to repaint the walls."

A glare was shot his way. "So what's happening on Tuesday?"

"There's a parade in the morning, party after that and fireworks at night."

So, we don't have to go to the shop?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "That's right, you get the whole day off. Although knowing my mom, we'll probably still end up stuck with each other."

Rachel scrunched up her face as if she smelled a foul odor.

"I smell that bad eh? I guess I better go shower before I leave," he said before he stood up and held out the controller to her. "Here, it looked like you were getting into the game. You might as well give it a try while you're all alone for the rest of the afternoon."

She gave the controller a disdainful look.

"That is, unless you want to come with me again?"

"And be bored at some practice? I think not."

"Hey, you might not be bored at this. Or at least you'd find it more interesting than yesterday."

"Very reassuring."

"Well, it's either stay here all alone or come with me for a slight chance of being entertained."

"I thought you didn't want me around this weekend."

"I figured you'd be bored yesterday," he said as he shrugged. "But I think you might like what I'm doing today."

She pursed her lips. "You really think that I'd be entertained today?"

He grinned at her. "Only one way to find out."

She tapped her right index finger on her re-pursed lips for a few moments as she considered her options. "Fine, I'll go get ready," she said before she got up from her seat.

"Oh," she turned around at his interruption and found him grinning. "You can wear heels today."

* * *

"William McKinley High School again?"

"Yup."

"I swear Finn Hudson, if you've dragged me to some sort of sporting event or practice again I will… I will… I'll…"

Finn glanced over at her and grinned. "Stutter at me?"

Rachel narrowed her eyes at him. "I'll find something you hate and do it to you."

Finn grinned at her again and said, "Can't wait."

Instead of parking in a space near the field, Finn drove towards the opposite end of the school and parked near a set of doors. He checked his watch as he noticed a few other cars already parked around the doors and found that they were a bit early. So the people that were already here were even earlier than them. Not that he could blame them or anything.

Finn held open the door to the school for Rachel and they stepped inside the dark hallway. There weren't too many official summer programs at McKinley High, but Principal Figgins was cool about letting this club practice during the summer. Course, it probably helped that Finn had threatened to quit the football team his senior year if a classroom and auditorium weren't available during the summer.

"Why is it so dark in here?"

He had to stop himself from chuckling as he felt her bump into him a few times. "Worried that I'm bringing you here to kill you?"

The chuckles couldn't be stopped after she latched onto his arm when the doors slammed shut behind them. "That is not funny."

"Guess I should take down the saran wrap and hide the plastic tarp I had set up in a room?" He felt her nails dig into his arm. "Ow. Stop that. I'm kidding. I'm kidding."

The nails dug in even harder for a moment and then let go. His arm, now with five crescent shaped indentations, still remained in her grasp though. "Not. Funny."

They turned the corner and made their way halfway down another hallway before Finn felt Rachel slow down. Rachel tugged on his arm and he saw that her eyes had slightly widened as she looked up at him. "Is that what I think it is?"

He grinned down at her. "I don't know, what do you think it is?"

What they both heard was a group of people singing a basic seven note musical scale over and over again through a classroom door that was cracked open.

"It sounds like vocal exercises." Her eyes narrowed. "Wait, did you think that I'd be entertained by some sort of high school choir rehearsal?"

The grin fell off Finn's face. "Uh…maybe?"

She rolled her eyes and let go of his arm. "Come on, let's get this over with."

Inside the room they found half a dozen teenagers performing the vocal exercise standing around a piano. All of them looked over at Finn and Rachel as they walked in while they continued to warm up. Brad, the usual pianist, was nowhere to be found so it was Mr. Schue who led the group through a few more vocal exercises. Some stragglers came in after Finn and Rachel and took places around the piano joining in on whatever exercise the rest of the choir was doing. Eventually, Mr. Schue finished the warm ups and let them go back to their seats, joining the seated Finn and Rachel.

Mr. Schue got up and walked over towards Finn. "Hey Finn, I see you brought a guest."

"Yea, this is Rachel. Rachel, this is Mr. Schue. Er, Mr. Schuester."

Mr. Schue chuckled and said, "Come on, at least introduce me as William or Will; I'm not your teacher anymore." He turned to Rachel and narrowed his eyes slightly. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"No, I don't think you do."

Mr. Schue waited for a moment, seeing if she would say anything else before clapping once and saying, "Okay then, first New Directions practice for the new school year!" He walked towards the center of the empty space in front of the seats. "We lost a few seniors this year so we're gonna have to pick up a few new members if we want to compete. If you're got any friends that might be interested ask them to come to auditions when school starts. Otherwise, we're going to use our first performance as a recruitment pitch. Anyone have any suggestions for what our first number should be?"

Finn always wondered why Mr. Schue always asked for suggestions like that because the same thing always happened. It happened every year when he was in New Directions and it happened now. Every single student burst out with a stream of songs that they'd like to sing. This lead to the room becoming louder and louder as each kid tried to out-shout each other. As always, the suggestions were whatever top 100 hits the student liked at that moment and as always, Mr. Schue had a hard time getting everyone to quiet down.

"Those were some great ideas, but I was thinking our first number should be something more old school," Mr. Schue said after he finally got them to quiet down.

The kids all burst into conversation again; trying to decide which old-school hip-hop song they'd be performing.

Mr. Schue put an end to that. "No, we're not doing hip-hop. We're gonna be doing classic rock." All of the kids groaned and started to complain. "I know you guys don't really like it, but it's been a while since we've done a classic rock number and I was thinking that this year we could do a bunch of classic hits from all genres." There were some murmurings from the students. "And yes, we can still do some newer stuff as well."

This was met with approval from all of the students except for one. "Why can't we start with a current song and then do the classic songs later in the school year?" said a female student in the front row. Finn was pretty sure her name started with an "E" or an "A."

Someone yelled, "Yea, classic rock sucks!"

"Whoa," Finn said as he stood up. "Classic rock does not suck. Without those old artists we wouldn't have all of the different kinds of rock music now. There'd be no metal or punk or alt-rock. Classic rock is the foundation for all that stuff. Plus, the songs are awesome."

Mr. Schue nodded. "Couldn't have said it any better myself, Finn. Here, let me give you an example."

"I got this Mr. Schue."

Mr. Schue looked over at Finn and grinned. "Alright, the floor is yours."

Finn walked over to the Jazz Ensemble and told them his song choice which was met with smiles and approving nods. As he walked back to the center of the empty space, he wondered why the Jazz Ensemble always seemed to be around during rehearsal. He figured they must not have had anything better to do in Lima during the summer either. The stunned look on Rachel's face didn't miss his notice either.

"Okay, this is one of the greatest songs ever written, if not the greatest. So I think I'm gonna need some help with it. Any volunteers?" Finn looked around and saw that there were a few hands raised. "Thanks for volunteering Rachel." Rachel was definitely not one of them.

"What? I wasn't—don't you—my hand was not raised."

"Sure it was; come on and take a seat right here," Finn said as he pulled a chair toward the center of the space.

"You are definitely paying for this," Rachel whispered as she sat down facing the front of the room.

"Can't wait," he whispered back.

Finn nodded at the Jazz Ensemble and a few seconds later the guitar riff intro for "Jessie's Girl" began playing. He looked down in front of him at Rachel and saw that her stunned expression had returned. As he began to sing, he noticed that her stunned expression slowly turned into an uncomfortable one. Even though it had been a while since he sang, he didn't think he sounded that badly and everyone else in the room looked like they were enjoying his song, everyone except Rachel. She began to fidget in the chair and wouldn't even look up at him as he continued to sing. Well, if he didn't appreciate her then he'd sing to someone else.

When he moved onto the second verse he stepped around her, stood in front of the rest of the class, and sang to them. Even though everyone in the room complained about the choice of old school rock, they were really enjoying Finn's performance. All of the kids were nodding their heads or tapping their feet and having a good time. As he finished up the song he completed a circle around Rachel's chair and ended up in front of her again. Once again, she didn't seem too thrilled to have him singing to her but she had stopped fidgeting and was giving him a curious look.

Mr. Schue began to clap along with the rest of the class. "Now that was a classic rock song!" he said while the rest of the class chatted about how awesome it was. "Okay, Finn and I have our iPods with a bunch of classic rock on them. You guys can spend the rest of the time listening to things and picking songs to sing next week. Let us know if you have any questions."

With that the kids swiped the two offered iPods and gathered into one big group. For the next hour or so, the iPods and earbuds were passed around as the each student displayed the extremely short attention span that every high-school teenager had. Songs were listened to and skipped in a few seconds if they weren't liked. If they were liked then they were listened to for half a minute or so. As Finn watched the kids, he was pretty sure that not one of them listened to an entire song on either iPod. No matter if the kids liked a song or not, snarky comments were made about any and every song they listened to.

Every once in a while one of the kids or a small group of them would break off and sing a few bits of a song they really liked. Mr. Schue and he would answer the questions these kids had about the songs they liked and how they could be arranged for their voices. Of course, the kids didn't really pay too much attention to them since it was the first rehearsal of the year and they had plenty of time to arrange whatever song was finally selected. The kids spent much more time catching up with the people who they didn't hang out with during the summer or bickering over what songs were good or gossiping about who broke up or hooked up with whom. The voices were different, but the conversations were exactly like the ones he had during his time in New Directions. Finn wondered if this was the experience that Mr. Schue had during his time in the glee club.

The only thing Rachel was wondering about was else Finn Hudson was good at. Not only was he a superb football player who probably was one of the best players in the country, if Coach Beastie was to be believed. Well, aside from his career ending injury of course. He was also an excellent vocalist which had taken her completely by surprise. It was strange that Finn had brought her here under some misguided thought that she would somehow appreciate the rehearsal of a high school show choir when he himself didn't seem to have anything to do with it. That thought flew out the window as soon as the first note left his mouth. The coincidence of his song choice wasn't dwelled on for too long or too hard.

However, as she listened to the answers he gave to the questions regarding song arrangements, it seemed as though his musical talent ended at his vocal abilities. But, the questions that he was asked weren't very serious because it seemed that almost all of the kids wanted to listen to music and hang out with each other more than they wanted to work on the assignment their director gave them. Frankly, it was an insult to Rachel's finely honed sense of competition that the kids were taking something as serious as show choir so lightly. If she was part of the group, she'd be badgering them to seriously work on their assignment much like she'd done during her rehearsals for any of the productions she was involved with. Then again, they looked like they were having so much fun.

Finn had even dragged her into one of the smaller groups when they asked him a question and then proceeded to have her sing along. She had to admit that it wasn't that bad since, like at the pool party, they were singing for themselves and not for anyone else. It didn't hurt that there were some decent vocalists in the choir. Of course, none were as good as her or Finn for that matter. But there was some talent in the room. She had even felt a bit more relaxed after her impromptu performance as the kids took note of her abilities and began to ask her questions that she had no trouble answering.

This wasn't to say that she loved the time she spent in the choir room but it was nowhere near as bad as the football practice he had dragged her to yesterday. So she breathed a sigh of relief when the rehearsal started to wind down and everyone began to pack up. William or Mr. Schue—that had a pleasant ring to it—reminded everyone to have a song prepared for next week which had no chance of happening in Rachel's mind. Noticing that Finn and his old teacher were deep in some conversation, Rachel inquired as to where the restroom was and left the room.

As she got closer to the room on her way back she heard the drums being played. When she looked into the window she was completely unsurprised to find Finn playing them. That man was like the male lead of a romantic comedy brought to life. She began to list Finn's characteristics and quickly realized that this was a bad idea. Her focus returned to the scene in front of her and with a twinge of annoyance she noticed that Finn wasn't alone in the room. The girl who had suggested that they cover a current song before moving on to the classics was standing in the middle of the room.

It looked like Finn was helping the brunette girl with whatever song she'd picked for next week and her suspicions were confirmed when she cracked the door open and listened to their conversation. Granted, from the advice Finn was giving her, he probably wasn't helping her much which meant they'd be here even longer as he tried to help her. That wouldn't do. She opened the door and stepped inside.

"—gotta sing louder. No one's gonna be able to hear you."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "That's not advice and it won't help her sing any louder."

Finn scoffed. "I'd like to see you do better."

"Watch me." Rachel took a seat at the piano. "Come over here… What's your name?"

"Emily," said the brunette as she walked over to the piano.

"Okay Emily, what song are you trying to sing?"

"'I Love Rock 'n' Roll' by Joan Jett."

"Good choice," Rachel said as she nodded. "I know this isn't a guitar but the piano is a much better choice than the drums for a melodic accompaniment." She cracked her fingers and found the proper keys. "Now, let's hear you sing."

Rachel began to play the introduction to the song and then immediately stopped when Finn began to play with her. "And what do you think you're doing?" she said as she glared at him.

"Uh, playing with you?"

"Absolutely not; it's a wonder you can hear her sing anything with you banging away on the drums in this small room. I can't believe there isn't some sort of sound dampening screen because without one the sound balance is completely off. The drums overwhelm every other instrument in the room, including the voices."

"Fine, I won't play," Finn said as he tucked his drumsticks under his arm.

Rachel began to play again and watched Emily as she started to sing. Finn was right about one thing: Emily's voice was soft. While it wasn't as soft as to not be heard, she would still need to sing louder if she wanted to be any help to the choir. Every voice was even more important due to the low number of members. Of course, the softness of Emily's voice probably had something to do with her furtive glances towards Finn and the tension Rachel saw throughout Emily's body.

Rachel stopped playing. "Okay, that was not very…good." Rachel rolled her eyes after Emily threw Finn another furtive glance. "Finn, could you leave the room please?"

Finn gave her a surprised look. "What? Why?"

"Could you just leave the room?"

"But why?"

Rachel glared at him. "Get. Out."

"Fine, I'll be waiting in the truck," Finn said as he marched out of the room.

Rachel continued to glare at him until he left then looked back at Emily and waited for the door to close before saying, "I take it you have a crush on Finn?"

Emily gasped. "How'd you know?"

"Aside from the fact that you're completely obvious about it?"

"Am I that obvious?" Emily looked at Rachel with horror. "Do you think Finn knows?"

Rachel fought back the urge to roll her eyes. "I'm sure your secret is safe. And I knew because you kept glancing at him and were extremely tense. Neither of those are very conducive to quality singing. Singing is both a mental and physical activity. If your mind and body are not behind it then the sound you produce will be lackluster."

"I don't understand—"

"Of course you don't. As with any other physical activity, your body must be relaxed with you sing. This will allow you to hold more air in your lungs and your vocal chords will not be under any extra strain, among other things. In other words, you will sound much better if you are relaxed. I won't go too much into detail about the mental aspect of singing, considering the content of the song you've picked. But suffice it to say, you won't be able to sing properly if you're too nervous to sing in front of someone."

Emily nodded. "That makes sense."

"Now then, take a few deep breaths and then take it from the top."

Rachel watched as the tension slowly melted away from Emily with each breath she took and released. With one more glance towards the door, which made Rachel roll her eyes, Emily nodded at Rachel. A flash of movement by the door caught Rachel's eyes and when she glanced over she noticed Finn looking in on them through the small window in the door. This made her roll her eyes again before she began to play and this time Emily performed much better.

With a few more suggestions and attempts, Emily showed a marked improvement compared with her initial performance. Rachel couldn't help but be affected by the enthusiasm and joy that Emily had after her last attempt. She smiled as Emily excitedly chattered away about how the rest of the club would be amazed by her performance next week. Rachel gave Emily some more breathing and vocal exercises to work on during the week in-between the chattering before they headed out.

But as they approached the door, Emily's chattering died and she looked at Rachel and asked, "Are you going out with Finn?"

Rachel barked out a laugh and said, "No, I am not; he's all yours," much to the relief of Emily.

They stepped out into the hallway and saw Finn walking towards them. At that sight, Emily shot off towards him, chattering away again. Rachel slowly followed behind and made Finn wait for her with Emily next to him as giddy and yappy as one of those tiny purse dogs. The rapid-fire recounting of Emily's performances and Rachel's assistance continued as they made their way towards the parking lot much to Rachel's continued annoyance.

Thankfully, Emily's cellphone interrupted her yapping. "Hey. Yea, I'm leaving right now. I know, I know. I just got caught up in something. I'll be home soon." She turned to Finn and Rachel. "Sorry, I gotta go home. Thanks for everything Rachel. See you on Tuesday!" With that she sped off down the hallway, leaving Finn and Rachel alone.

"So, I didn't really understand what she was saying but I take it you helped her out?"

"Yes, it was quite simple actually."

He nudged her with an elbow. "Well, you sure showed me." She waited until he looked at her before obviously rolling her eyes which drew a chuckle. "So, did you have fun?"

"I… It was more enjoyable than I thought it would be and helping out Emily one on one was much more satisfying than I ever thought it could be."

"Well, I'm glad you liked it," he said as he held open the door to outside.

"Well, I'm glad you brought me," she said as she walked by and lightly elbowed him in the stomach.

* * *

Finn slowly rolled the glass of water between his hands as he sat at the dining room table after dinner. He quietly zoned out as random thoughts popped in and out of his head until he was interrupted by his mom sitting down in front of him.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"Uh… I can't wait until we can have meat for dinner again."

Carole laughed. "Speaking of our guest, how is she doing?"

Finn shrugged. "Seems fine. Doesn't seem to hate it as much as when she first got here."

"So you two are getting along then?"

He took a sip of water. "Uh… yea I guess."

"So she's nice underneath all that bossiness?"

Finn grimaced and looked down as he remembered the first impressions of her he'd shared with his mom. "She has her moments."

"Well it's nice that you two are getting along," she said as she stood up.

"Whatever. You guys sure you don't need any help setting up for Tuesday?"

"No, you already do enough around here. Plus, we're almost done." She walked into the kitchen before poking her head back out. "Nice and pretty. She'd be quite the catch."

His head shot up. "Mom!"

His mom smiled at him. "Just making an observation honey."

"I'm going to bed. Night mom."

"Goodnight honey."

* * *

A/N 2: I'd like to promise that the next chapter will be out sooner but I just don't know if I'll be able to keep it. So, I'll just try to get out the next chapter as soon as possible.

Tired of dream/nightmare sequences? Sick of waking up with Finn/Rachel? Hate the lack of plot development? Despairing over the glacial romantic advancement? Pissed off over my once a month updates? Leave a review!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Sorry for being so late with this. I know lots of you have left reviews and sent PMs asking for an update but I just haven't had the time to write.

So, this story was nominated for a Finchel Fanfiction Award and even though it didn't win I was honored just to be included with those great stories and authors because all I could think was "one of these stories doesn't belong and I'm pretty sure it's the one I'm pecking away at." Thank you to all those who nominated and voted for this story.

Oh, in case you didn't believe Finn last chapter when he said "Jessie's Girl" is one of, if not the greatest, song ever, I present you with this evidence: penny-arcade dot com/comic/2008/10/24/

As always, thanks for reading and reviewing.

* * *

There are moments in life which are so profound and poignant that they affect how a person lives the rest of his or her life. There are moments like the Newton seeing the apple falling from a tree or the birth of a child, or the perfect bite of food.

This was not one of those moments. This moment was one of shock and awe.

Finn's jaw dropped as he tried to discretely stare at Rachel who was doing the most amazing thing Finn had ever seen with a piece of candy. He couldn't help but stare as he saw her do things that he thought only existed on the internet. It looked as though she hadn't noticed him staring at her, so he slowly turned his head to look at her as he tried to get a better view of her. As he began to blatantly stare at her, he once again thought that Rachel Berry would be the end of him but for a different reason this time.

_About an hour earlier._

"I don't see the point in having to wake up this early on our day off," Rachel said in-between sips of her large iced coffee.

Sitting next to her in a matching beach chair and holding a matching iced coffee, Finn replied, "We had to grab these awesome spots for the parade. I never sit anywhere else."

"What does it matter where we sit for the parade?"

Quinn, also with a large cup of iced coffee, replied from Rachel's other side before Finn could. "It's a tradition we have. Plus, Finn loves the parade."

"But it's soooooooooooooo early!" said Rachel.

This time it was Artie, also with a cup of iced coffee, who responded from the other side of Finn. "Hey! We're celebrating the birth of America! The signing of the Declaration of Independence! The day we Americans decided the throw off the chains of colonialism! You can wake up early one day to do that."

Rachel stuck her drink into the cup holder on her seat and threw her arms up. "I can celebrate those things just fine from the comfort of my bed!"

Artie just shook his head before he turned to Sam so they could continue a conversation about Star Wars or Trek or something with the word Star in it.

Finn nudged Rachel with his elbow. "Come on, when was the last time you saw a parade?"

Rachel sipped at her coffee as she tried to remember when the last time she saw a parade. "It's probably been a few years." And it was. The last parade she'd been to was the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade nearly a decade ago where she pitched a fit at her dads for bringing her to such a commercial and boring event. And even though it had been a yearly tradition ever since they had moved to New York that was the last time Rachel had gone with them. Not that the people around her needed to know.

"See? This is perfect then," Finn replied.

"Is not." Rachel crossed her arms and pouted. "And it's still too early."

Finn glanced over at Rachel and shook his head slightly. An idea came to him just as he was turning around to speak to Quinn. He looked over at Rachel again and saw that she was still pouting with her arms crossed. Perfect, he thought as he picked up his ice cold drink and pressed it up against Rachel's cheek. He grinned as she let out a shriek and flailed her arms about in his general direction, trying to get his drink away from her face.

Rachel glared at Finn. "If this is a tradition for you all, where are the rest of you?"

"Mike and Brittany are in the parade so they're off getting ready. Puck and Santana are probably sleeping," said Finn.

"Why do they get to sleep in?"

"Well, Puck gets to sleep in cause he was working 'til 3AM and Santana gets to sleep in because—"

"Because I'm Santana Lopez and what I want, I get," the Latina said as she strolled past the group and took the empty seat next to Quinn. "And Santana Lopez gets to sleep in."

"10:55 isn't really sleeping in," Rachel shot back after she checked her phone.

Santana rolled her eyes. "B's in the parade; I have to be here. I just didn't have to be here as early as you."

Rachel let out a huff before Finn said, "Come on, it's not that bad is it? I mean it's better than waking up to go to work."

"It's still too early," Rachel muttered.

"God, do you ever shut up?" Quinn said.

"No, I usually find that my conversation style allows me to accomplish my goals much faster. I'm assuming it has something to do with my superior arguments and thought processes."

"Yea, I'm sure that's it," Santana said.

"Your sarcasm is not appreciated," said Rachel while Santana and Quinn snickered at each other.

Santana opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by Finn when he said, "Hey, the parade's starting."

As cheers went up among the crowd up the street; Rachel felt as if she was living in a bad movie for what had to be the hundredth time. Small children and their parents peppered the sidewalks as everyone watched the mayor walk by with the parade marshal, signaling the start of the parade. Cliché after cliché of small-town America made their way past Rachel: boy scouts, fire engines, the high school marching band, etcetera, etcetera.

One of the few things that was different were the small paper bags being handed out at the start of the parade by the boy scouts. When she shot Finn a curious look he grinned back at her and said, "Just wait." She didn't have to wait long to find out what the bags were for when the girl scout troop walking by started to throw candy towards the crowds gathered on the sidewalks.

She looked at Finn. "Please tell me the reason you love this parade so much isn't because they give away candy."

He glanced at her and said, "Uh… okay; I won't," before facing forward and snatching a Snickers bar out of the air.

"Finn Hudson, you are the most juvenile—"

"What?" he said. "It's free candy. There's no way you don't like candy."

"I may be known to eat a piece or two, here and there, but that's still no—"

He looked at her. "Come on, it's like Halloween in July; what's not to love?"

"I can give you a list of things—"

"There's got to be something you like…" Finn said as he began digging around inside his bag of candy. "Milky Way? Reese's? Ooh, you gotta love Kit Kats right?"

"Have you already forgotten that I'm a vegan?" Rachel said.

"Uh, what's that have to do with anything?"

"Well, most of the candy being produced today contains ingredients that a vegan cannot eat such as: milk chocolate, gelatin, carmine, confectioner's glaze—"

"So wait, what candy can you eat?"

"Sour Patch Kids, Dum-Dums, and Twizzlers are a few of the candies on the vegan approved list," Rachel said.

"What about Jolly Ranchers?" Finn said as he held up an apple flavored one.

Rachel wrinkled her nose when she saw the green-colored candy. "No thank you."

Finn rifled through his bag some more. "Twizzler?"

Rachel rolled her eyes and was about to turn him down when an idea popped into her head. "If I take this, will you stop annoying me with questions?"

When he said, "Yea, I guess," Rachel snatched the Twizzler from his hand and looked at the piece of candy for a moment. The fact that Finn was no longer asking her about what kind of candy she liked was only a bonus effect from her actual plan. Her actual plan was to continue the game that she decided to play when she first arrived in Lima: tease Finn mercilessly for her own entertainment. The single serving Twizzler was unwrapped and held lightly between Rachel's fingers for a long moment as she pondered how she wanted to approach this. She decided that her usual method of being quick and direct wouldn't suffice; something a little more subtle would be best for this and given the size and shape of the piece of candy, there was really only one choice for Rachel.

They say that men are visual creatures, but in her experience Rachel knew that audio cues would greatly aid her in this game. She let a small moan escape from her lips as she wrapped them around the Twizzler, and when she saw no reaction from Finn from the corner of her eye she moaned a little louder. Second time was the charm for Rachel when she saw Finn peek at her, and his jaw dropped slightly. The urge to grin was pushed aside as she moved the Twizzler in and out of her mouth, all the while keeping a tight seal around it with her lips.

When Finn's jaw stopped dropping, Rachel decided to turn up the heat. As with a few other things in her personal life, Rachel's lack of a gag reflex allowed her to push more and more of the candy down her throat without any trouble. His eyes flew open as she pushed almost all of the long candy down her throat and there was no fighting the grin that began to form this time.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Quinn hissed, surprising Rachel and causing her to jump and choke on the Twizzler.

After Rachel recovered, she said, "I was eating a Twizzler until you rudely interrupted me."

"Well if that's what you call eating, you can do that at home, in private," Quinn said.

"Stop being so harsh. I kinda enjoyed watching it," Santana said as she waggled her eyebrows. "It was kinda hot."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Missing certain things now that you're playing for the other team?"

Santana smirked. "Nah. Me and B are switch hitters. We don't miss much."

Rachel heard Finn cough and sputter from behind her which caused Quinn and Santana to smirk and snicker.

"Aww Frankenteen, it always feels good to know that anyone and everyone can embarrass you," Santana said.

"Frankenteen?" Rachel asked.

This brought a smile to Quinn's face. "Nickname we gave Finn in junior high since he was already a giant then."

"Why are you guys still using that? I'm not a teenager anymore," Finn said.

"Cause it annoys you duh," Santana said as she rolled her eyes.

"Finn was a bit embarrassed about his size way back then," Quinn said.

"That's nothing to be ashamed of. I happen to like larger than average men," Rachel said.

Quinn and Santana stared at Rachel's straight face for a long moment until Rachel could no longer keep her lips from twitching, causing all three of them to burst into laughter.

Finn groaned. "Did you have to bring that up?"

Santana smirked. "Oh now that you mention it, there are plenty more where that came from," she said as she began to count them out on her fingers. "Finnessa, Finnocence, Finny—"

"Okay, okay. I think she gets it," said Finn.

Santana shrugged. "Sure, whatever you say Finnderella."

Finn groaned again as everyone laughed.

The rest of the parade went by quickly as everyone quickly dissolved into commenting about the parade and the people in it. They all cheered when Mike and Brittany came around, leading a dance troop through a complicated routine before the entire troop went off on their own random dances. While Rachel wouldn't say that she had fun watching the parade, she understood why almost everyone showed up. There was a sense of belonging to a community that Rachel could feel as people from the town came by to speak with Finn, Quinn, and everyone else for no reason other than to catch up with them because the people had watched them grow up.

Rachel, of course, had no experience with this since she'd been raised in a big city where you were lucky if your neighbor grunted a hello at you. She could see the appeal of growing up in a small community where almost everyone knew your name, but there was no way she would ever trade the experience of living out all her dreams for one where she would be trapped in such a small town. It was, however, different to see what it was like away from the hustle and bustle of New York and to her surprise she found that it wasn't that bad, much like the just-finishing parade in front of her.

"Now what?" said Rachel as she stood up and stretched.

"Now we go home," said Finn.

"That parade is all you guys do for July 4th?"

Santana scoffed. "Oh please, we've got plenty planned for today."

Quinn arched an eyebrow. "Since when did you ever plan anything?"

Santana arched an eyebrow back at her. "Since when did that ever stop me from taking credit?"

The two stared at each other for a moment before grins appeared and Quinn said, "Point taken."

Burt drove by in Finn's truck a few moments later and the guys threw the beach chairs in the bed of the truck before he drove off. As they slowly walked back to Finn's house, Rachel saw that the street had begun a transformation into a block party: there were people setting up all sorts of food and game stands on front yards and sidewalks, kids ran up and down the block chasing each other and pestering the people around them, and right in the middle of it all were Burt and Carole who were organizing everyone else.

Finn's parents waved at them as they walked by and into in the house where everyone immediately dropped into whatever seat they could find in the living room, except for Finn who went into the kitchen to grab drinks for everyone. The group bantered back and forth while watching a movie and after a while Noah, Mike, and Brittany joined them. Just as the movie ended Carole came in and told them that things were just about ready if they wanted to come out.

Finn gathered some of the used glasses, dropped them off in the kitchen, and as he turned around, almost ran over Rachel who was following with more used glasses.

"Thanks," he said as he grabbed the glasses from Rachel and began to wash them. "Didn't think you'd be behind me."

"No problem. And, annoyingly, I guess it's become a habit to help you clear the table," she said as she picked up a towel.

A half-grin. "Since when is it annoying to be helpful?"

She grinned back. "If you like helping so much then why aren't you outside helping your parents?"

"Uh, I usually do but my mom said I really didn't have to this year. Something about..." Rachel didn't hear the rest of the sentence as Finn turned away and mumbled it.

"What was that?"

He mumbled it again but this time Rachel could pick out the words: Mom, you, and company.

"I still didn't hear you."

He turned to look at her. "I said, 'My mom wanted me to keep you company.'"

"Now was that so— Wait. What?"

Finn brought his hand up to rub his face before he remembered it was wet then groaned and said, "She said that you needed the company because you didn't know too many people here and she didn't want you running around by yourself."

"Does she think I'm 12 or something?"

"That's what I told her and she told me that it was either show you around or porta potty duty. So yea, easy choice."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Glad to know that I'm being picked before portable toilets."

"Yea, well you know," he said as he shrugged. "Guy's gotta have some standards."

She glared at him. "You—"

"Ahem." Finn and Rachel turned around to find Quinn leaning against the door frame with an amused smirk on her face. "You two finished being domestic in there? Because Santana's complaining about being hungry and you know how she gets when she's hungry."

Finn winced. "Yea, we're almost done."

"We?" Rachel threw the towel in Finn's face as she walked out of the kitchen. "You mean you're almost done."

* * *

"I think I've figured out why you like today so much."

"Oh yea? Why's that?" Finn said around bites of a topping filled hot dog.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Because you get to eat candy in the morning, then pick and choose between endless food stands, — What's that? Your fifth plate of food? — and play a bunch of juvenile games in between your eating."

Finn shrugged as he finished swallowing the remains of his hot dog. "What can I say? I like to eat and play games."

Rachel rolled her eyes again and sighed.

He nudged her with an elbow, drawing an annoyed look from her. "I saw at the dunk tank trying to drop Puck. It even looked like you were having fun when you weren't yelling at him for being crude and disgusting."

"Okay," She pursed her lips. "I may have found a few things to do that are entertaining."

Before Finn could say anything, Santana pushed her way in between them and said, "You planning on doing something completely stupid to Finn again? Cause I'm gonna—"

Finn groaned and interrupted her. "Are you drunk? Cause I thought I told you not to worry about this anymore."

"Do I look like I'm all sad and weepy? And I'm telling her that if she tries to pull some shit like that again I'm gonna go all Lima Heights on her ass." Santana threw her arm around Rachel's shoulders and glared. "Comprende?"

Rachel's mouth flopped open for a moment before she said, "You don't have anything to worry about. I won't be doing anything like that again."

"You sure?" Santana grinned at Rachel. "Cause it's been a while since I destroyed someone and I kinda miss it."

"Just ignore her," said Quinn who had walked up with Santana.

"You know, you've been way less fun ever since we got outta high school," said Santana.

"What can I say?" Quinn shrugged. "Things are just different now."

"Ugh, whatever," said Santana as she rolled her eyes then looked to her left as Brittany ran up to the group, looking very excited.

"San! San!" said Brittany as she jumped up and down in front of Santana, bringing the entire group to a stop.

"Yes B?"

Brittany grabbed Santana's hand. "You gotta come with me!"

Santana looked down at their intertwined hands for a moment. "And where are we going?"

"The Johnsons set up a moon bounce this year!"

Santana's eyes widened and a small grin appeared on her face.

Brittany started tugging on Santana's hand and began jumping again. "Come on! Come on!"

Santana looked over at Quinn and rolled her eyes before she turned back to Brittany and grinned even wider. "Okay. Let's go."

Rachel had to grin at the way Brittany had Santana wrapped around her finger as she watched the blonde pull the Latina away from the group. "They're cute together."

Finn and Quinn gave each other a look, which Rachel missed, before Quinn said, "They went through a lot. Our town and high school aren't exactly the friendliest place for lesbians."

Finn muttered something unintelligible which caused Rachel to look up, only to find him and Quinn giving each other sad expressions. "What'd you say?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it," he said after he thought for a moment and his face hardened. "Come on; let's go see what other games there are."

Finn marched off down the street pausing ever so often to check out a booth as Rachel and Quinn trailed behind him. He even stopped at another food booth and when Rachel asked, Quinn confirmed that Finn had always been a bottomless pit ever since she had known him. Finally, Finn decided to try his hand at a ring toss booth.

"So, do I have to worry about Santana?" Rachel asked as she and Quinn watched Finn screw his face up in concentration while he played the game.

Quinn laughed. "No, she's not harmless but she won't do anything to you if you don't do anything to Finn."

"Good because I have no idea what 'Lima Heights' is and I'd like to keep it that way."

"Don't worry about that either. I have no idea where she gets that from. Her dad's a dentist and her mom's a receptionist and they live up the street, a few houses away, from Finn."

Finn let out a victorious shout which brought their attention back to him and the game where they saw that he had managed to put a ring around the bottle all the way in the back. He turned back to them and asked, "Did you see that? I was awesome."

"Nope," Quinn said.

"Sure didn't," followed Rachel, much to the amusement of the two women and the annoyance of Finn. But as the words left Rachel's mouth, she was already scanning the prizes that were available in the booth. Granted, the booth was being run by a random family in the small town, so there weren't that many prizes to choose from.

Finn turned to look over the prizes as well. "What'd you think I should get." Rachel's response was about to be the stuffed monkey eerily similar to hers, except for a reversed color scheme, until he said, "Quinn?"

A twinge of annoyance shot through Rachel as Quinn thought it over for a moment. "I think you've given me enough stuffed animals over the years to last a lifetime. Why don't you let Rachel pick?"

As soon as the word "Sure" was out of Finn's mouth, Rachel stated her desire for the monkey.

The prize was handed over by the operator and given to her who looked it over and discovered that it also had Velcro pads on its hands just like hers. Earlier in her life, she had entertained herself endlessly by using her body as a tree and hanging her monkey using the pair of Velcro hands. This behavior faded away as Rachel grew up and her theatre career began since it just wouldn't do to be seen out in public with a stuffed animal hanging off her. She wanted to show the people that she was a mature Broadway actor who, aside from constantly arriving late to practice and rehearsals, took her job seriously. Granted, her personal life and troubles were plastered all over Page Six but at least that showed the world that she had the same problems as plenty of other celebrities. What she couldn't show was immaturity which is exactly what a stuffed animal hanging from her arm or neck would display.

"Quick response there," said Quinn as Rachel fiddled with the monkey paws.

Rachel shrugged. "It caught my eye."

"Are you going to stop sticking and unsticking his paws?" said Quinn.

Rachel rolled her eyes then threw her new stuffed animal onto her back, looped the arms around her neck, and stuck the paws together. "Happy?" Of course, there were no paparazzi in this little town to take pictures of her so she was fine with this behavior here.

Quinn gave the monkey a tiny yank causing Rachel to stumble backwards and produce an unflattering squeal. "Very."

After Rachel recovered and shot Quinn a glare, she noticed that two females, one teenager and one college-aged, had begun a conversation with Finn. The younger one was Emily, who Rachel had helped in Glee Club just a few days earlier, and the other was someone familiar looking but Rachel couldn't quite remember where she had seen her. The older one had similar features as Emily so Rachel assumed that they were sisters. One major difference between the two was their mannerisms around Finn: where Emily was shy and reserved, her sister was chatting animatedly with him.

"Hey, your name's Rachel right?" said the elder sibling after she noticed Rachel and Quinn approaching.

"Ah, yes… Do I know you?"

"Cesar salad, hold the eggs and croutons?"

Understanding washed over Rachel as she realized that this was the girl at the deli who prepared their lunches every work day. "Sorry, I didn't recognize you—" Rachel racked her brain for the name. "—Erin."

Erin laughed. "It's okay. Everyone says I look a bit different when I let my hair down. Plus, you always seem too busy bickering with Finn here and arguing with Puck to be paying much attention to your surroundings at the deli."

"Yes, those two are very annoying to deal with every day," said Rachel as she ignored an indignant "Hey!" from Finn.

"I bet they are. Anyway," said Erin as she prodded Emily forward. "I wanna thank you for helping Emily in Glee because I'm betting that she didn't."

This time it was Emily who let out the indignant "Hey!" before she continued, "I did thank Rachel for all her help."

Erin patted her sister's head until her hand was swatted away. "Well, I stand corrected then."

The group moved away from the booth and spent a few minutes chatting with each other before Erin asked if she and her sister could join Finn, Quinn, and Rachel so the siblings could get away from their parents for a while. Finn, being the nice guy he was, said they could tag along which sent another twinge of annoyance through Rachel since he was supposed to be showing her around, supposed to be keeping her company, supposed to be entertaining her. He was _not_ supposed to be making her think like this. Those thoughts were quickly shoved aside because the last thing she wanted was to want Finn to spend time with her.

Her internal struggle was interrupted by an amused looking Quinn. "Like mother, like daughter; but I guess I should say: like big sister, like little sister."

"What?"

Quinn tilted her head in the direction of Finn, Erin, and Emily who had put enough distance on the other two that their conversation could no longer be heard. "I think it's obvious with the way little Emily can barely look or speak with Finn that she has a crush on him."

"And what does that have to do with her sister?"

"Well, with the way that Erin hasn't let go of Finn's arm since they walked off, it's pretty obvious that she hasn't gotten over the crush she had on him way back in high school." Quinn tapped her lips with an index finger for a few moments. "Although, I suppose she might just want to jump his bones. Can't really tell anymore now that I'm out of practice."

"You practiced…spotting who had a crush on Finn?"

Quinn looked at Rachel as if that was the craziest thing she had ever heard. "Of course I practiced that. He was the most popular guy in high school then he one of the most popular guys on campus and, even though he was pretty oblivious and would never cheat on me, I still had to constantly mark my territory." She let out a breath. "It did get a bit annoying after a while."

"Is that why you guys broke up?"

"What has Finn told you?"

"He hasn't said much, just that you two fell apart in college."

Quinn narrowed her eyes. "Why so curious?"

Rachel grinned. "No reason, I just like the gossip."

Quinn's eyes narrowed even more which Rachel didn't think was even possible. "I suppose you would like gossip."

"What'd you mean by that?"

"Nothing. And it wasn't the reason we broke up." She let out a sigh. "But if I had to be honest, I was kind of relieved I didn't have to watch out for those harpies anymore."

"They couldn't have been that bad." But even as these words left Rachel's mouth, she could easily imagine how tiresome it would have been to see multiple copies of Emily and Erin hang around Finn. It did help her imagination that she could see the original versions laughing with Finn right in front of her.

"Oh, some of them were fine." Quinn waved her hand towards Emily. "I'd never worry about girls like Emily and their little crushes because they would never try anything." The hand was waved at the other sister. "Erin used to be the same way back when were all in high school but now she might just be the type who wants to sleep with him. She would've been one of the ones I watched because there's no telling what she'd do." She looked over at Rachel and grinned. "Sometimes I do miss taking one of those sluts aside and describing in great detail what would happen to them if they tried anything."

"You still seem to have a connection," said Rachel. "Are you two going to get back together?"

"No," said Quinn as she shook her head. When it became clear that she wasn't going to continue, Rachel turned to look at her which drew an eye roll. "Not that it's any of your business, but even though something will always be there, we're well past that part in our lives where we want to be together."

"Why is that?"

"You just don't quit do you?"

Rachel shrugged and said, "I find I usually get what I want if I keep pressing for it."

"Well, you keep pressing and I'll keep saying no."

Rachel shrugged again and looked forward only to find that the trio in front of them had disappeared. "Where'd they go?"

"Dunno,"Quinn said as she looked around. "Probably in someone's backyard playing a game or something, but they're probably at a food booth knowing Finn."

"How could he disappear like that?" said Rachel as she kept looking around, trying to find Finn. She found it strangely disconcerting that she could've lost sight of someone as large as Finn.

"I think you mean 'they'."

"They?"

"You said he— You know what? Never mind."

"Wait, what are you talking about?"

"Nothing." Quinn shook her head. "Don't worry about it."

Rachel made a face at Quinn then exhaled loudly. "Now what?"

"Now, it looks like you're stuck with me for a while."

* * *

Rachel stared at the two pieces of fabric lying on her bed and pondered over her options. Normally, she wouldn't have hesitated to choose the more revealing dress back in New York. In fact there this wouldn't have even been a choice had she been in any major city, but she'd noticed that no one in Lima wore revealing haute couture dresses during their everyday activities. Of course, she didn't believe that people in Lima wore haute couture anything at any point of their lives so she stuck to wearing the less flashy, plainer clothing she had brought as to not stand out so much.

After the first day of this trip, she thought she'd never have the opportunity to wear the nicer things she had packed when she thought she would be going to a nicer destination where things such as parties and clubs existed. However, when Rachel and Quinn finally found Finn again, the two Lima natives explained to her that after the fireworks the town's younger crowd headed to a party by the lake. She figured that this may be the one and only time she'd have the chance to wear one of her nicer dresses. So, the black dress with a plunging neckline that stopped well above her knees was snatched from the bed and thrown on.

"Holy shit. You can dunk me any time if you're wearing that," Noah said as she stepped out of the house.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Could you be anymore disgusting?"

Noah waggled his eyebrows and stepped closer. "I can be anything you want me to be."

"Ugh," she said as she took a few steps away. "Do your lines work on anything with half a brain?"

Finn stopped Noah's response when he weaved towards them with his head down, trying to balance two plastic cups along with two more hot dogs and said, "I can't believe she had to change—" He pulled up short when he looked up and saw her.

"Thank god, I could use a drink," Rachel said as she grabbed one of the cups from Finn.

"Uh, that's beer," said Finn, who seemed to have a problem with looking away from her.

"And it's mine," Noah added, who had no problem staring at her as he lunged for his beer.

Rachel easily dodged Noah then chugged the entire thing before tossing the empty cup at him. "Not anymore." Then she made a face then smacked her lips a few times and said, "Now I need a real drink for the fireworks. Speaking of which, where are we watching them?"

Finn managed to stop staring at her long enough to turn around and point at the tree house in the front lawn.

"From the tree house." Rachel said. "Seriously?"

"Hey, at least we don't have to fight for seats," Finn said.

Rachel looked up at the tree house for a moment. "And we don't have to go too far for them either."

"See, you can look on the bright side of things." Rachel punched Finn's arm, almost causing him to spill his drink and drop the hot dogs. "Okay, me and Puck are gonna grab some more drinks."

"What about me?"

"You can go hang out with Quinn and the others?" Finn said as he handed a hot dog to Puck and they began to walk away. "You two seemed to be playing nice with each other."

Rachel groaned and made her way towards the tree house where she found Santana, Brittany, and Mike running up and down the street, in what looked to be an impromptu game of tag, with Quinn, Artie, and Sam cheering them on from the sidewalk. A twinge of envy flashed through her as she watched the trio's fluid movements in the street. There was no question in her mind that those three people were made to move their bodies in a way most people, Rachel included, could never copy. While her time in musical theatre required her to memorize and perform intricate choreography for song and dance numbers, it was something that she forced her body into through repeated practices.

Rachel walked up next to Quinn and asked, "Who's winning?"

Artie looked over. "Damn girl! Look at you!"

"Who'd you get all dressed for?" Quinn asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh," Rachel said as she watched Brittany dodge Mike. "You never know who I might find at the party."

"Trust me when I say: You won't find much," Quinn said which drew indignant shouts of "Hey!" from both Artie and Sam.

"Rachel! Quinn!" Brittany said as she ran down the street by them, chasing Mike. She ran back up the street a few moments later, this time with Santana chasing her. "Artie! Sam!" The second time she ran down the street she was chasing both Mike and Santana before she stopped and said, "Come play with us!"

"No thanks Brittany," Quinn said.

Brittany pouted for a moment before tapping Quinn on the forehead and said, "You're it!" as she ran away.

Sam and Artie glanced at Quinn for a moment before bolting down the street after Brittany.

"Is that how Brittany always is?"

"Happiest person I know," Quinn said.

"We're not going to really play tag are we?"

Quinn scoffed. "Of course not."

"Good," Rachel said as she nodded. "It is an extremely juvenile game."

"It is." Quinn waited for a moment before she slapped Rachel's arm. "You're it," she said before she laughed and sped off up the street.

Rachel let out a groan then spotted the closest person, Mike, and joined the game with a laugh and a scream.

This was how Finn and Puck found them, laughing and screaming as they ran around, when they returned with a small cooler of drinks. The cooler was set down at the base of the tree and then the two guys watched the game unfold. It was easy to see that, if score was being kept, Mike and Brittany would've been dominating the game with their quick steps and fluid motions. Santana was right behind them, just not quite as smooth and fluid as the pair in front of her. Rachel and Quinn kept up with the top three through what seemed to be force of will, not willing to lose out of sheer competitiveness. Sam and Artie appeared to have teamed up, with Sam pushing Artie around.

Eventually, Rachel noticed them standing there and stuttered to a stop in front of them. "You two going to join us?" she asked with a smile on her lips and a slight sheen of sweat on her forehead while breathing slightly harder than usual.

Out of all his options, Finn figured that looking straight into her eyes was his safest choice as he said, "Never thought you'd be running up and down the street playing tag."

"Never thought that either, but when in Rome…"

They stood there looking at each other for a moment before Artie and Sam came speeding behind her, tagging her on the arm, and then speeding off.

Rachel grinned wickedly and stepped towards Finn. "I guess I'm it."

"Uh…" He took a drink from his cup. "I think you lose since the fireworks are about to start."

"What? That's not fair!"

"No one told you to stop in the middle of the game." He waved the rest of the group over. "That just makes you an easy target. Anyway, we have drinks in the cooler by the tree and beach chairs if you don't feel like climbing up but the view is way better up there."

"Might as well grab the best seats in the house," Rachel said as she opened the cooler and picked through the cold beer trying to find something she might actually enjoy drinking. "Didn't you bring anything that's not beer?"

"There's some Mike's Lemonade in there," Finn said as Brittany launched herself at the ladder with Santana close behind her.

Rachel made a face before she said, "I guess that'll work," and resumed picking through the cooler.

"You should probably wait 'til we get up there and um…" Finn cleared his throat and looked slightly away from her. "You should probably climb up last."

Rachel looked towards the tree and saw Noah begin to climb up. "And why is that?"

Finn took a long drink. "You probably don't want anyone underneath you when you're wearing…" He waved his hand at her. "That."

"Why Finn Hudson, don't you want to see what I'm wearing." Rachel looked down at herself for moment then smirked. "Or not wearing, underneath this?"

Finn began coughing mid-drink before Mike smacked him on the back a few times and said, "Hey, watch the teasing. Finn could never take too much of it." Mike smacked Finn a few more times while Quinn laughed. "Made for a great locker room target though."

Finn grumbled a bit before Rachel said, "Well, he has a good point. You guys should probably climb up before me."

Mike shook his head. "Nah, I'm staying down here with Artie and Sam. We got lots of Call of Duty talk to get through during the fireworks."

Rachel motioned towards the tree and said, "After you Finn," before he grumbled a bit more, picked up the cooler, and started to climb up. Quinn went up after him and Rachel followed her where, from a few steps below, she noticed Noah pulling Quinn into the tree house. As she reached the top of the ladder, Finn offered his hand, which she took, to help her up the final steps. His other hand offered her a bottle of Mike's Lemonade, which she also took after she brushed her dress off.

Looking around, she saw that Santana and Brittany had paired off and were sitting with their legs dangling through a door-sized opening at the front of the house as they chattered away. Noah and Quinn had their heads and shoulders sticking out of one of the windows with one of them bumping shoulders with the other ever so often. This left only one other window facing the fireworks where Rachel and Finn copied the other pair's poses.

Soon enough the fireworks started and while they weren't quite as nice as the ones she saw in New York and nowhere near as spectacular as the ones she saw during her summer theatre run in Washington, DC. Yet, she couldn't shake the feeling that she might have been enjoying these fireworks much more because of the company around her. Happy ramblings coming from the easily amused Brittany, bubbly laughter from Quinn mixed with Noah's deeper voice, Santana's biting laughter, and Finn going on and on about his favorite fireworks were the soundtrack that easily bested the classical marches that were usually played during these events.

No, she was definitely enjoying these fireworks much more than any others.

* * *

Rachel stared at the so called dance floor with amusement. It was literally a few dozen sheets of plywood set down on the flattest part of the grassy area surrounding the lake and an extension cord running from someone's car powered the DJ table and speakers. She had danced a few songs with a few random guys who had asked her to, but she didn't find it all that enjoyable. Considering that this is what passed for a dance club in this small town, she thought she would be happier to be here with plenty of alcohol, loud music, and cute boys. Instead, those things only reminded her that, while she appreciated them as time wasters, she didn't really love them.

"I hope you weren't expecting too much," Finn said as he walked up beside her and they watched as Brittany dragged Santana back onto the dance floor.

"I don't really know what I was expecting," she said as she waved her arm in front of her. "But, it certainly wasn't this."

Finn laughed. "Well, it's either here or the school parking lot."

"Between those two choices, I can see why the lake was picked."

They watched as Brittany left the dance floor only to come back a moment later with Mike in tow. He was immediately placed between her and Santana and they began to grind on him, much to his apparent discomfort and their amusement.

Rachel broke the silence. "Not going to dance?"

"Hmm? Nah. I'm okay."

"I've seen plenty of women eying you, if you're worried about finding a partner."

"I know that. I'm just a terrible dancer, so I don't bother doing it."

"Oh." She looked down and kicked at the grass. "It's not your leg is it?"

"Nah, I was terrible before the injury." Finn chuckled before he said, "Quinn said that the injury might've even helped my dancing a bit since I had to pay more attention to my footwork and all."

Mike finally freed himself from the pair and threw Sam to them as a replacement who seemed to enjoy their attention much more.

"What about you? Why aren't you out there more often? I've seen a few guys ask you."

"I think I'm too sober to be dancing right now."

"C'mon then, let's get you another drink."

"Why Finn, are you trying to get me drunk?"

He scoffed. "With the way you put away drinks, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't need to try to get you drunk." Her jaw fell as he tried to backtrack. "Wait, wait. That didn't come out right. What I meant to say was—"

Rachel pulled her jaw back up and glared at him which made him say, "I'll just go get you a drink." She kept glaring at him as he made his way to a table with drinks set up on it.

"Finn word vomit all over you?" Quinn asked as she walked up.

"What?"

"He say something that he probably shouldn't have said?"

"Yes, he did."

"He does that when he's flustered."

"Why would he be flustered around me?"

"Hmm… I have no idea why he'd be flustered around a pretty girl wearing a skimpy dress."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "He hates being around me."

"Right. Because guys go out of their way to talk to and bring drinks to girls they hate."

"Well, I dislike being around him."

It was Quinn's turn to roll her eyes. "Yea, you sure didn't mind when Erin and Emily disappeared with Finn earlier in the day."

Rachel narrowed her eyes. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

"You're a smart girl. I think you'll figure it out." Quinn looked up and smirked. "Speaking of Erin…"

Rachel followed the blonde's gaze and found Finn being pulled tight up against Erin, who was smiling at him, on the dance floor.

"I guess that answers that question," Quinn said. "Wonder what took her so long to make a move."

The two women watched as Finn tried to escape as a song ended, but Erin succeeded in pulling him back just in time for a slower song to begin. Once again, that twinge of unwanted annoyance hit Rachel as she watched them rock back and forth while slowly turning round and round. She ignored it and tried to look away from the dance floor, but found her eyes kept coming back to Finn and Erin. This, she explained to herself, was only because there was nothing else around to look at except for the dance floor.

About the fourth time they turned so that Finn was facing them, Rachel and Quinn saw Finn's face pleading with them to come and help him.

Rachel and Quinn glanced at each other and Quinn said, "Rock, paper, scissors?"

"Sure. On three." Rachel raised her fist as did Quinn. "One. Two. Three." She always hated to lose and couldn't stop the feeling of disappointment that shot through her when she saw that Quinn's paper had beaten her rock.

"Well, go help him," Quinn said.

"But you won."

"And that means I get to choose who has to go help him and I choose you." Quinn made shooing motions at Rachel. "Off you go."

Rachel made a face before walking over to the dancing couple, tapping Erin on the shoulder, and said, "Can I cut in?"

Erin's smile vanished. "Of course." She turned to Finn, kissed him on the cheek, and said, "Thanks for the dance."

"Thought you weren't drunk enough to dance?" Finn said after Erin left.

Rachel shrugged. "There are always exceptions to the rule."

Rachel took Erin's place as a new, faster paced song started. Losing herself in the music, she began to dance the only way she knew how to after she'd had a few drinks: wildly and sensuously. While no one would ever confuse her dancing abilities with Brittany's or Mike's, she knew from experience that men appreciated the way she danced and was disappointed to find Finn looking at anything but her. This only made her want his attention even more, so she stepped closer to him which only brought his eyes to her for a few moments before he looked away again. Becoming even more frustrated, she started to run her hands up and down his body which was more toned than she imagined. This brought his eyes back to her just before the song ended and he looked completely relieved.

Finn exhaled loudly and stepped away before Rachel said, "You aren't that bad of a dancer."

"Trust me, I'm terrible."

"Maybe you should move a bit more instead of just standing there. You are dancing with another person after all."

Finn groaned. "Any more advice?"

A slower song started.

"I'll probably have more after this song."

Finn groaned again. "Do we really have to?"

"Yes," Rachel said as she wrapped her arms around his neck, glad that she had decided to wear heels to this party."

Finn groaned yet again and gingerly put his hands on her back.

The two of them gently swayed to the music and Rachel was annoyed to see that Finn still wasn't looking at her. "You know it's rude to not even look at the girl you're dancing with."

"Yea, I know. I just uh… um… can't really look at you."

"Am I that ugly to look at?"

"What?" He looked nervously down at her for a moment before looking away again. "No, definitely not."

Rachel tugged at Finn's neck, forcing him to look at her. "Then why can't you look at me?"

"I'm too tall."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Your dress is cut way too low and I'm like way taller than you so you know…" His eyes glanced down away from her face. "I can kinda see a lot."

Rachel threw her head back and roared with laughter for a few moments, not noticing that she was causing even more distress in Finn. "Well, you know that's kind of the point when a woman wears a dress like this. They want guys to notice them."

Finn's face furrowed with confusion. "So… you wanted me to notice you?"

"What? No! I meant guys in a general sense, not you specifically."

"So… you didn't want me to notice you?"

"No! You're a guy aren't you? I meant that…" she trailed off as she noticed a shit-eating grin form on Finn's face. "I hate you."

"This still doesn't solve my problem."

She rolled her eyes. "While I'm absolutely thrilled that you're so intent on protecting my honor, I believe I'll be okay for this one dance."

Finn mumbled something unintelligible.

"But if you insist on being so difficult about this," Rachel said before she pressed herself up against Finn and trying to ignore how nice he smelled. "Is that better?"

He coughed and said, "Yea, kinda."

Of course, their conversation had taken so long that the song ended about half a minute after they had settled into their new positions. They pulled apart, looked at each other, and began to speak at the same time.

"You're a fine dancer—"

"Thanks for—"

Finn gestured for her to go first as they started to walk off the floor.

"I was just going to say that you're a perfectly fine at dancing and you shouldn't be self-conscious about it."

"Oh, uh thanks for that." He ran a hand through his hair. "And for cutting in with Erin cause she was pretty drunk and got all grabby with me."

"Well, I'm glad I was able to protect your honor tonight Finn. Now, I believe you owe me a drink."

"Yea, I guess I do," he said before he walked off.

Quinn appeared by her side with an amused smirk on her face.

"You know, if I didn't know any better I'd think you were watching me," Rachel said.

"Who says I'm not?"

"Why would you be watching me?"

"Amusement. But enough about me, how was the dancing?"

"It was… fine. I don't understand why you had me do it. Finn would've been much more comfortable if you cut in and danced with him."

"Who said you had to dance with him?"

Rachel jabbed a finger at Quinn "You did."

Quinn shrugged. "I just said to go help him."

"And?"

"You were the one who chose to dance."

* * *

I need to say thanks to mida212 for giving me the idea for the setting for this chapter because I'm dumb. Summer. July 4th. I see no connection there!

Also, thanks to CarmenMauri for answering a few minor questions, knowing this story better than me, and, even though she definitely doesn't mean to, shaming me into writing.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Not much to say for this chapter and as always, thanks for reading and reviewing.

* * *

Hangovers were something that Rachel was well acquainted with. This meant that she was well aware of how to deal with them and what would soothe her pounding head the best, usually a handful of aspirin and a gallon of coffee. What she was quickly discovering was that Finn hammering away at some car part was definitely not soothing at all. The rhythmic pounding in her head had quickly matched the rhythmic pounding of Finn's hammer, wrench, or whatever, amplifying the throbbing headache. Not even the symphony of sounds that was New York City had ever caused her as much pain as Finn was currently causing.

Finn, the bastard he was, seemed to be suffering from no after effects from the previous night's drinking. Granted, she had gotten carried away with the drinks as the night wore on and Finn was careful not to drink too much as he was driving, but it was still annoying that he wasn't suffering at all. He had also seen her current condition when she came stumbling down the stairs this morning and taken pity on her, allowing her to sit and rest at a workbench. Not that it was doing anything close to being helpful at the moment.

Finally, Finn stopped hammering and Rachel let out a sigh of relief as the pounding in her head lessened to a mere throbbing. She leaned over in her seat to pick up her purse from where she pulled out two bottles, one of water and the other containing painkillers. A small handful of pills were swallowed along with three quarters of the water. Her head tilted back as she let the soothing coolness of the water wash through her. Her relief lasted for barely a minute as Finn restarted his hammering causing her to slump over in her seat and dropping her head onto her arms.

The hammering turned into the constant grinding of a drill and she let out a groan while trying to burrow her head deeper into her arms.

* * *

After what was quite possibly the longest day of her life, Rachel collapsed face first onto the living room sofa and let out one last groan for the day. Through the sheer passage of time, she stopped suffering from her hangover just before lunch but she didn't let Finn know that when she started needling him after lunch about leaving work early. While he didn't fall for it, he did let her sit around doing nothing for the rest of the day. Eventually, this led to her being bored to death which meant she spent most of the afternoon staring at him while he worked because aside from pecking away at her phone, there wasn't much to look at or do at the shop.

She turned her head to look at the stairs to the second floor, estimating the distance and effort needed to get up the stairs and to a bath she was craving. After a few seconds of contemplation, she found the effort required to be much too large and closed her eyes while trying to settle deeper into the sofa. Her left eye cracked open when she heard the basement door open and close, from which Finn had emerged carrying a basket of toiletries with a towel draped across his shoulders.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Upstairs to take a bath," Finn said as he came to a stop.

"Is something wrong with the shower downstairs?"

"Nope, just feel like taking a bath after a long day of work."

She propped herself up on her elbows. "I'm wanna take one first."

"You can't call dibbs on the bathroom."

"Who says I can't?"

"I just did."

"But, I'm tired and want to take a bath!"

"Tired from what?" He threw his arms up in the air. "You did nothing today."

"Tired from yesterday!"

"You had the entire day to recover. Not that you needed it after lunch."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You and I both know you didn't have a hangover after lunch," Finn said as he began to shuffle sideways towards the stairs.

Rachel swung herself into a sitting position and glared at him. "Don't even think about it."

"Don't worry," He said as he started up the stairs. "I'm not."

"I hate you!" she shouted after him as he disappeared up the stairs. When a response didn't come, she sighed and settled back onto the sofa with her eyes closed, hoping he wouldn't take too long.

The sofa shifted beside her and she found Carole looking at her when she opened her eyes.

"I see you and Finn are enjoying each other's' company."

"Your son can be extremely difficult sometimes."

Carole laughed, nodded, and then began staring at her.

"Um, is there a reason you're looking at me?" Rachel asked after she could no longer stand the stare.

"Sorry, I just…" Carole trailed off then smiled softly at Rachel. "Wait here. I want to show you something."

Without waiting for a response, Carole stood up, walked to a set of shelves in the living room, and began running her finger along the spines of the books. She pulled out and replaced two books before she found the one she was looking for and returned to the sofa, sitting next to Rachel. The book, which turned out to be a photo album, was set down on their legs and opened.

Carole flipped through a few of the first pages and said, "Recognize anyone?"

Rachel looked down at the photos and her jaw dropped. "Oh. My. God. That's Leroy." Her finger found jabbed at a photo with someone who looked just like her dad, only decades younger, standing next to a younger version of Carole and a man she didn't recognize. "Is that a mustache?"

"That would be a mustache."

Her finger jabbed at another photo, containing her daddy, Carole, and that same man. "Where's Hiram's mustache?"

Carole chuckled. "Lost a bet to Christopher."

"Christopher?"

Carole leaned over and pointed at the unknown man in the photo with Leroy. "That's Christopher, Finn's biological father."

"Where is he now?"

"The four of us were good friends, did almost everything together," Carole said, ignoring Rachel's question as if it was never asked.

Carole turned the pages and there were dozens and dozens of vacation pictures all over the pages, taken from all sorts of places. Every photo contained the same four, smiling persons: Hiram, Leroy, Carole, and Christopher. Most of the photos were composed group shots with some scenic viewpoint or point of interest in the background, but a few were candid shots showing the group goofing off, which was usually only Carole and Hiram while Christopher and Leroy laughed away nearby.

"Aw, is that Finn?" Rachel asked when the page was turned and she saw both pages filled with a baby in a hospital crib with a blue cap on.

"Yep, that's my Finn."

"He's so cute."

The page was turned again and, even though she should have known it was coming, Rachel gasped out of surprise. There she was as a baby being held by Hiram while Carole sat next to him with Finn, in a house she didn't recognize. Her fingers settled on her daddy's happy face which was beaming at her baby-self, happier than she had ever seen him.

"That's me," Rachel whispered to no one, as she began to unconsciously stroke the photo while she stared at it. Losing herself in the photo, Rachel didn't notice when Carole tucked a few strands of the younger girl's loose hair behind her ear and gently stroked her cheek a few times.

This was the first photo she had seen of herself as a baby in a long time, since her childhood photographs around her parents' home were steadily replaced with the trophies, ribbons, and awards won from countless talent competitions. She had never really understood her parents' love of photographing every second of her childhood, nor had she understood why they weren't pleased when she wanted to start replacing them. Of course, a temper tantrum quickly fixed that. Now though, looking at the pure joy that was on her daddy's face, she could see why her parents might want a photographic record of her childhood around their home and not just a collection of inanimate objects declaring her the best at one thing or another.

She turned the page and there were still more photographs of Finn as an infant with a few that also contained her. "I'm surprised at the number of photos that also contain me."

"Well," Carole said after she laughed. "All four of us were first-time parents living next to each other so we spent a lot of time in each other's homes." She reached up and stroked Rachel's hair. "It was almost like we all had two babies."

"I— I don't remember any of this."

"It's okay. I didn't expect you to remember." Carole laughed again. "You were so young and once you got the idea of Broadway in your head, it was the only thing you had on your mind. You were so focused on it; your parents pretty much had to move to New York."

"Well, I suppose I should thank you for everything you did for me."

"You don't need to thank me," Carole said as she flipped the page, revealing slightly older versions of Finn and Rachel. "We helped each other because you were basically a second child to us. Plus, Hiram and Leroy helped us out even more, especially through all of Christopher's deployments."

"Oh, Christopher served in the armed forces?" Rachel looked up, saw that Carole had nodded with pursed lips, and paused for a moment to figure out how to ask her next question. "Is that why you two are no longer together? I've heard that service makes it extremely difficult to maintain a relationship."

"No," Carole said as she shook her head. "That's not why we're no longer together. I was proud that my husband chose to serve his country and he was proud to serve by doing his job well."

Rachel watched nervously as Carole closed the photo album, set it on the table, and walked over to the shelf again. The older woman looked through the albums again, pulled one out, and returned to the sofa. The album was set on their legs and before she opened it Carole gave Rachel a small smile. Rachel looked down at the photos and gasped.

This album was filled with candid photos of what was obviously a funeral. There were people Rachel didn't recognize in black suits and dresses, almost all of them wore somber looks on their bowed heads as they made their way through a cemetery. The next page caused her to look up at Carole who only smiled back. She looked back down at the photos of a flag covered casket being carried by a horse drawn hearse towards the grave site. An honor guard carried the casket to its final resting places in the set of photographs and Rachel could see Carole crying in a first row seat with Finn sitting calmly in the chair beside her.

A lone figure in white sitting in the first row caught her eye so she leaned down and squinted before shooting back up when she realized that the figure in white was her in a white dress. She was sitting between a devastated looking Hiram and an empty chair. "Where's Leroy?"

"Your father insisted on taking pictures."

"I'm surprised you would want to have photos of this day."

"Yea," Carole said as she looked down at the album and chuckled. "I didn't want photos and neither did Hiram but Leroy kept insisting on it until Hiram blew up at him and told him to do whatever he wanted. I couldn't even look at this album for years, but it's nice having some sort of record of that day — I don't really remember much of it — even if I'm not jumping to look through the album very often."

A group of eight men dressed in crisp military uniforms. A military chaplain presiding over the service. A single man in uniform giving Carole a folded flag. A group of seven of those soldiers lined up, firing their rifles into the air. These were the next set of photographs Rachel saw before Carole closed the album.

"I think," Carole said as she pulled the album away. "We should go back to the happier album, don't you?"

Rachel did want to see if she was in any other photographs at the funeral but she wasn't going to ask Carole to relive that day for her own selfish reasons. So, she nodded, picked up the other album from the table, and turned to a random page, where she saw a set of photos of a young Finn playing catch with Christopher using a small, foam football.

They went through a few more pages of Finn's birthdays, holidays, and sporting events when he came down, stopped at the bottom of the stairs, and asked, "What're you looking at?"

"You in a cute little football jersey," Carole said.

"Mom!" Finn said with face that was quickly turning red.

"Oh Finn," Rachel said. "No need to be embarrassed. You were quite cute when you were young."

"Uh," Finn said as he scratched his head. "Thanks? Wait, what'd you mean 'were'?"

"Yes." Rachel nodded with a somber face. "You were cute. Now, not so much."

"Whatever." Finn said as he headed towards the basement with Carole laughing beside Rachel. "Bath is all yours."

* * *

"So," Finn said as he handed Rachel the last wet plate. "Do you have plans later?"

"You know I don't have plans," Rachel said as she took the plate. "You know we almost never have plans during the work week since I've arrived. Unless, of course, you consider sitting on the sofa or visiting the bar Noah runs actual plans."

"Hey, those are plans," Finn said as he grabbed the dishtowel from Rachel to dry his hands. "I mean it's not like we have a lot of options here."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "So, what exactly would the plan be for tonight then?"

"Puck's bar."

Rachel groaned then said, "Of course."

"Come on, it's not like you have anything better to do."

"Fine," she said as they walked to the living room. "What time do we have to be there?"

Finn checked his phone. "We should probably leave soon."

After a quick makeup check — No reason not to look good, even if they were going to some dive bar — they got in Finn's truck and headed to the bar. The small sign out front written in chalk caused Rachel's heart to beat a bit faster.

"Oh my god. I love karaoke!"

"Thought you might," Finn said as he held the door open for her but after hearing the sounds coming from the bar she wished that he had kept the door closed.

"I hope that's not what passes for singing in this town."

Finn grimaced. "Yea, well, not everyone can be Adele." He waved her into the bar. "Plus, people do get better when you get a few drinks in you."

"Yes," Rachel said after she laughed. "Beer goggles for your ears and you'll never regret the morning after."

"Well, almost never."

"Why Finn Hudson," Rachel said as she stepped through the door and spun around. "I never figured you to be one for one night stands."

"What? No! That's not what I meant."

"Why whatever did you mean then? How many times have you walked the walk of shame?"

"Zero," Finn said and poked Rachel in the forehead. "I was talking about videos of certain people singing while drunk."

Rachel batted away Finn's finger. "Of you?"

"What?" Finn put his hands on her shoulders, spun her around, and guided her inside the bar. "You think I suck that much at singing?"

Rachel looked back over her shoulder and said, "Yes." To which Finn replied with a shove, drawing an indignant shriek and glare from her.

They looked around for a moment before they spotted Sam and Brittany waving that them from a set of tables the group had commandeered to the side of the makeshift stage. As they approached the tables they could hear Santana jeering at the current singer whom they had heard when coming into the bar. There were only two seats left; Rachel took the one opposite from Quinn and the one next to it, which Finn took.

"You sound like a cat crawled down your throat, took a crap, and died!"

Finn covered his face and said, "Santana, do you really have to do that?"

"You have your traditions, I have mine. Plus," Santana said as she waved over a waitress. "It's not like these people don't know about me." She waved her other hand at the person on stage. "And this bitch is even more awful than the people who usually go up there."

"She has a point," Rachel said after she gave her drink order to the waitress. "This is an awful rendition of 'My Heart Will Go On' and would make Celine throw up in her mouth if she was here."

"Ugh." Santana made a face. "Don't even get me started on the song. This isn't what you sing at karaoke."

"But do you have to heckle her?" Finn batted away a napkin Santana threw at him. "Would you like it if you got heckled up there?"

"Oh please," Santana said as she wadded up another napkin and threw it at Finn. "Like I would ever get heckled. The people in this bar know better. Plus my voice is hot."

Rachel looked over at Santana. "You sing?"

"Finn didn't tell you about our glorious days in show choir?" Quinn asked.

"No, he did not. Well, he only said that he was in choir." Rachel looked over at Finn and poked him in the arm. "He didn't mention the rest of you."

"Good," Santana said. "Because we sucked ass."

"Hey!" Artie said. "We weren't that bad."

"Yea. Yea, we were," Quinn said before she finished off her drink.

The entire group winced as the current singer tried, and failed miserably, to hit the final high note of the song just as the waitress put down their round of drinks.

Rachel pulled the waitress over. "We're going to need shots."

"Tequila," Santana added over the wailing. "And one of us needs to go up there to wash out that sound from my ears."

"Why don't you go?" Sam asked.

Santana glared back. "Because, Trouty Mouth, I just got me a drink and I gots a shot coming."

Rachel's hand shot up. "I'll go!"

"Winner winner, chicken dinner," Sam said as he handed Rachel the book of songs while everyone else booed his corny line.

While Rachel began flipping through the book, Santana continued her boos, this time she directed them at the young woman who was walking off the stage while a few people in the crowd politely clapped. The boos kept coming until the woman sat back down and Santana shouted, "Don't you dare get back up there! And stop crying! You were terrible!"

Rachel and Finn turned around and saw the woman bawling into her hands while her friends tried to comfort her. They turned back around and Finn said, "Shouldn't you tone it down? She's like really crying over there."

"Nah, she deserved it." Santana turned towards Rachel and kicked her under the table. "Now get up there before some other god awful singer does."

A glare was shot at a grinning Santana before Rachel quickly drained her rum and coke and started to walk towards the stage with a slight limp.

"And you better pick a good song!" Santana shouted after her as she reached the stage.

She looked down, fiddled with the machine to enter the song she chose, and lowered the microphone stand. Her finger tapped the microphone a few times, testing it to see if it was on, while she waited for her song to begin. A grin spread across her face as the crowd erupted when they heard the talk box intro to "Livin' on a Prayer." Her grin spread even further as she sang the first line and the crowd got even louder, thankful for a good vocalist after the nightmare that was the previous performer.

Of all the things that Rachel missed about being in New York, it was being on stage almost every night that she missed the most. There was nothing like the thrill of baring your heart and soul to thousands of people on a Broadway stage, and while doing karaoke in front of a few dozen people in a bar didn't come anywhere close to replicating the stage, Rachel would take what she could get. She didn't even mind the people who cheered and sang along even though it drove her crazy if a single person made any kind of noise during one of her solos on stage.

There was no harm in working the crowd here, so Rachel removed the microphone from the stand and began strutting around on stage while she sang, much to the crowd's delight. The cheers in the crowd slowly died as they listened to her perform until she pointed the microphone at them during the final bridge into the chorus and they erupted. She brought the microphone back to her mouth and gestured for the crowd to sing louder. As the crowd sang louder and louder with her during the final choruses, she put more and more into her performance until she was belting out every note as if both sides were in a competition to see who could sing the loudest.

She finished the song with the crowd which then burst into applause and cheers for her performance. After an exaggerated bow, she almost ran back to her seat thanks to the adrenaline that was now coursing through her veins and quickly downed her shot of tequila right after she sat down.

Quinn and Santana looked at each other and bobbed their heads side to side for a few moments before the blonde said, "Not bad."

"That's it? I had the entire room going crazy and singing with me!"

"And?" Santana said. "Do you want a cookie or something?"

"And I would like it if my talents were more appreciated."

Santana and Quinn rolled their eyes in unison just as their waitress put down another rum and coke in front of Rachel.

"I didn't order this."

"It's from that guy over there," the waitress said as she winked and pointed at handsome young man sitting at a table across the room, who raised his own drink in a salute when he saw Rachel looking over.

Rachel grinned and waved back by wiggling her fingers before turning back to the table and saying, "Now he appreciates my talent."

"Oh, I bet he'd like to appreciate your talent all night long," Santana said as she winked at disgusted looking Rachel. "If you know what I—"

"I thought you sounded great," Finn said as he nudged her with an elbow.

"Oh— I—" Rachel looked over at Finn, tucked some hair behind her ear, and then looked back down at her empty shot glass. "Uh— Thanks." She looked back up. "Why is no one going up there?"

"Uh, probably because they would sound terrible after you?" Sam said.

"Yea," Artie said. "We need someone to go up there and break the ice and I think Finn would be perfect for that."

"What?" Finn's confusion over Rachel's awkward acknowledgement vanished. "No way."

"Dude," Artie said as he slid over a piece of paper. "Sam and I picked out the perfect song for you."

Finn picked it up and looked at it. "This just has the code written on it. What's the song?"

"Dude," Sam said. "Don't worry about it."

"There's no way I'm singing some song I don't know," Finn said before he held out his hand. "Hand over the book."

"You mean this book?" Santana said before she sat on the song book.

"Um, you do know that those things just sit around in this bar right?" Finn said.

A look of disgust passed over Santana's face before she recovered and said, "That's what dry cleaning is for."

Finn groaned, looked around the table, and found no help until he felt a hand on his arm. Rachel's hand.

"You'll be fine," Rachel said as she gently squeezed his arm. "Your voice is wonderful and I'm sure your friends wouldn't select a bad song for you to sing."

"That's because you don't know them like I do."

"Quit stalling and get up there," Santana said as she kicked Finn under the table.

Finn felt Rachel squeeze his arm again and when he looked over she smiled up at him. Resigned to his fate, he got up and made his way to the stage. He stared at words on the screen after he plugged in the song code and groaned at the song Artie and Sam chose for him. Figuring that he didn't need to be the only one who had to suffer through this, he tapped a button on the machine to pause it then picked up a microphone and said, "I think I'm gonna need two volunteers to help me."

After a moment or two a few hands went up, then a few more went up, but he noticed that Rachel's hand immediately shot up and it looked as though she was straining herself to stay seated. He also saw that Sam and Artie were hunched over, trying their best to hide themselves from his view.

"Okay," Finn said as he pretended to look around the room before he pointed. "Artie aaaaaaaand E-Pain. Yes, that means you Evans."

Rachel sat back in her seat, deflated from not being chosen, as she watched Artie and Sam make their way to the stage.

"Wow. Over-competitive much?" Santana asked.

"Well, I always seem to be more engaged when I'm competing with someone," Rachel said to Santana who quickly became bored and started making out with Brittany, much to Rachel's annoyance.

"Hmm," Quinn said. "I figured you would've sung a different song."

"What did you think I was going to sing?"

"Oh," Quinn said. "I don't know, maybe some Aretha or Beyoncé."

"Why did you think I would sing one of their songs?"

"I just pictured you singing something from a diva, not a rock song."

Rachel's eyes narrowed. "Why do you think I would sing a song by a diva?"

"Oh," Quinn said with a smirk on her face. "No reason. You just didn't seem to be the type who enjoyed Bon Jovi."

"I'll have you know that I enjoy all types of music, including classic rock."

"If you say so," Quinn said with a small shrug of her shoulders.

Just as Rachel was about to respond, she was cut off by a rapid drum beat and Sam singing, "Shawty," which was followed by Finn yelling, "Aww, shit. Get your towels ready, it's about to go down."

As Finn continued the spoken intro, Quinn and Rachel began laughing while Santana pulled away from Brittany and looked up at the stage. "No way. Those idiots are not doing that song."

"It's not a bad choice," Quinn said after she stopped laughing.

"No, it isn't," Rachel said as Santana gaped at Quinn, then Rachel. "It would be extremely hard to follow up on my wonderful performance, so it was a wise to choose a more light-hearted song." On stage, Artie began to rap causing the four women to laugh again, in-between which Rachel said, "And this is extremely light-hearted."

They only laughed harder when Finn took over rapping duties from Artie.

* * *

It was simple physics really.

The cue stick hit the cue ball. The cue ball bounced off a rail and hit the 8 ball. The 8 ball dropped into a corner pocket and the team of Finn and Artie lost yet another game of eight-ball to Santana and Brittany, mostly due to Brittany's aptitude at the game, but Santana's skill at distracting her opponents didn't hurt either.

"You two wanna try?" Finn asked Rachel and Quinn who were seated to the side.

"No thanks," Rachel said.

"You sure?" Finn asked with a smile on his face.

"You two seem to be doing a fine job," Rachel said.

"Fine job?" Artie said. "They've been crushing us all night!"

"What can I say?" Santana said with a smirk. "Me and B are pretty good at playing with sticks and balls."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Go see if Mike and Sam wanna play."

"Nah," Finn said as he looked over his shoulder. "They're too busy flirting over there."

"Well then," Santana said as she smacked Finn on the arm with her cue stick. "I guess you better rack 'em up again."

"How many more times are we gonna have to play you?"

"As many times as it takes to satisfy me and B," Santana said as she licked her lips and ran her hand up and down her cue stick. "And we can go all night long."

"Stop with the awful innuendo and go play," Quinn said as she rolled her eyes.

"Fine. You guys can kick our asses again," Finn said as he rubbed his face then followed Santana back to the pool table.

Rachel and Quinn watched as Finn re-racked the balls and Santana generously allowed the other team to break. The two guys looked at each other before Finn shrugged and Artie rolled up behind the cue ball. He carefully lined up the shot, took a deep breath, slowly exhaled as he thrust the cue stick forward in a smooth motion, and promptly sent the cue ball into the corner pocket in the far right side after it grazed the first ball of the rack, thanks to Santana bending over at the waist from across the table just as he was starting his shot.

"Stop cheating!" Finn said as he pointed at Santana.

"Who's cheating? I was just picking up the chalk I dropped," Santana said as she held up a piece of chalk between two fingers and set it down on the pool table. "What'd I miss? Did Artie scratch?"

"You did that on purpose!"

"I guess that means we win again," Santana said as she shrugged. "Tell you what, you can break after you re-rack."

Finn looked over at Rachel and Quinn and let out an exaggerated sigh before he smiled and went off to re-rack the balls.

"It's been nice to see Finn smiling and having a bit of fun," Quinn said as they watched Finn successfully pocket a stripped ball on his break.

"What'd you mean?"

Quinn put down her drink, pursed her lips, and stared at Rachel with her piercing gaze for a long moment before she said, "How much do you know about Finn's recovery?"

"I…," Rachel trailed off as she thought about the blonde's question. "I don't know anything about his recovery, aside from the fact that he tried to return to football."

Quinn pursed her lips and stared at Rachel again. "Finn and I broke up a few months after we started college."

"Why are you—" Rachel started before Quinn glared at her and held up a finger.

"I was the one who ended it," Quinn said before she sipped at her drink. "After four years of being with him, I wanted to see if the grass was really greener on the other side."

"Was it?"

"Some of it was and some of it wasn't," Quinn said as she shrugged.

"It's awful you would give up on that long of a relationship for practically nothing."

"Um, excuse me," Quinn said as she glared at her. "But Finn had no problems with going out with the first piece of hot ass he saw on campus." The blonde closed her eyes for a second and exhaled. "That's a lie, we were both pretty upset about it, but it didn't take us that long to get over it." She looked back at the pool table, her eyes following Finn. "Which makes sense, since I don't think either of us were truly happy in that relationship."

"Then why did you stay together for that long?"

"Because we were content and we probably would've been content if we stayed together, got married, and had children."

"So why didn't you?"

Quinn returned her gaze to Rachel. "Because we deserved to find people who would truly make us happy."

"Oh."

"And for a while." Quinn glanced at the pool table and Finn again before she said, "I think Finn found that happiness with Lisa."

"I assume Lisa was his college sweetheart?"

"Yea, they started going out a few weeks after we broke up and they were really happy together and I was happy for him." Quinn sipped at her drink again before she said, "Then came his injury, his surgery, and his recovery and I guess she couldn't handle being with him through all of that, so she broke up with him while he was in rehab."

"That's awful. How could she be so cruel?"

Quinn sighed and said, "I know it seems that way but it was a tough time for everyone. Finn obviously had it the worst but he wasn't exactly the most pleasant person to be around at the time." Quinn glanced at Rachel and noticed her look of disbelief. "Look, I'm not excusing or defending what Lisa did. I'm just saying that I understand some people aren't strong enough to deal with something like that."

Rachel looked down for a second and said, "You were."

"I care about Finn," Quinn said as she looked at Finn. "He was my first… everything and I _never_ want to see him as hurt as he was when Lisa dumped him ever again."

"I'm sure he was devastated. Of course you wouldn't want to see him like that again."

"Well then," Quinn said as she fixed her gaze on Rachel again. "I'm glad we see eye to eye on that."

Finn and Artie's shouts of joy brought their attention back to the pool table where they saw them gloating at an angry looking Santana. The Latina glared back at the guys then hit Finn with her cue stick multiple times until he stopped gloating. With a self-satisfied smirk, she marched over to Quinn and Rachel with Brittany happily trailing behind her.

"That's it, me and B are done for the night," Santana said as she held out the cue stick.

"And here I thought you could go all night long," Quinn said with a smirk.

"Whatever Q. Just take the damn stick."

"Fine," Quinn said after she let out an over exaggerated sigh, grabbed the cue stick from Santana, and then turned to Rachel. "Come on. Might as well play some pool while we're here."

"Do we have to?"

"Stop being a chicken!" Artie shouted.

Rachel's eyes narrowed and grabbed Brittany's cue stick. "Let's go show those boys how to play."

* * *

"Last call everyone!" Puck yelled as he banged his hand on the bar before sliding over to where the group was sitting. "You guys want anything?"

The group declined anything alcoholic but a few asked for glasses of water.

"So," Finn said as he nudged Rachel. "You're really terrible at pool."

"I don't see why you have to rub it in."

"Who's rubbing it in?"

"You are."

"Hmm," Finn said as he rubbed his chin. "I guess I might be."

Rachel let out a hmph and turned away from him until she felt hard poking her in the side.

"Wanna sing one last song?" Finn asked as he poked her in the side with the songbook.

Rachel reached for the songbook but Finn pulled it out of her reach and she glared at him.

"I already picked a song."

"You want to sing with me?"

"Nah," Finn said as he shook his head. "Not just you, everyone."

"Oh hell no," Santana said from Finn's other side. "I am not getting up on stage."

"Come on, it'll be just like old times," Finn said.

"No way in hell Hudson."

"Yea San, let's go sing!" Brittany said.

"Stop denying it. You know you loved Glee Club," Quinn said.

"Fine," Santana said as she glared at the blonde. "One song and that's it."

From the small smile on Santana's face, Rachel was pretty sure that the other woman wasn't that upset at having to get on stage and sing with her friends. When Brittany grabbed Santana's hand and they ran up on stage laughing, Rachel knew Santana was happy to be up there.

Once on stage, Finn entered the code on the machine and watched as Santana rolled her eyes at his song choice.

"Couldn't you have picked something more recent?"

"This song is awesome," Finn said as he picked up a microphone. "How can you not like it?"

"Whatever Frankenteen," Santana said. "Take the lead since you love it so much."

Finn shrugged, stepped forward, and waited for the song to load. When it did, what was left of the bar crowd cheered as they heard the rhythmic piano intro.

"Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world," Finn sang and as he finished the first half of the verse, he pointed at Rachel who took his cue, stepped forward, and pointed right back at him as she began to sing with the rest of the group backing them up.

"Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit…"

* * *

A/N 2: What's this? My Spidey-Sense is telling me there was some vague plot movement in this chapter! Amazing!

Oh yes, I have a new Glee themed tumblr. Check my profile page for a link.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Late? I'm not late. That's what she said. Badum. Ching.

Finn, Artie, and Sam sang "I'm on a Boat" by The Lonely Island last chapter by the way.

* * *

Rachel blinked and immediately knew that she was in a dream. Or a nightmare.

It was the same field she was in just a few nights ago. Only this time, she wasn't running through it and, as she moved her arms and legs around, she had more control of her own body. She could feel and smell the freshly cut grass underneath her feet just like before and a look down showed that she was wearing the pure white dress and flat shoes again.

When she looked up, the field of grass was lined with rows and rows of tombstones. Mindful of her previous experience in this dream world, she took a few cautious steps forward and looked around to see if she could spot whatever had made that terrible noise she heard before. Another step was taken, then another, then a few more, and with each step Rachel gained more and more confidence that nothing would happen to her this time.

The granite of the tombstone felt smooth as she ran her hand across it and more importantly, it felt real. In fact, everything around her looked, felt, smelled, and sounded real, but when she looked down at the tombstones there was only fuzzy black shapes where the lettering should have been. Looking closer at the world, she saw that there were other little details in the world that were off: lines of tombstones stretched to the horizon without end, trees rustled in the wind even though there was no wind, and most noticeably, the clouds shifted and swirled in physically impossible ways.

While the list of inconsistencies grew in Rachel's head, a pair of strong hands picked her up then cradled underneath her, giving her a seat against his hip. This seat brought her face to face with Hiram.

"Here you are. I've been looking all over for you."

"Daddy!" she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Apparently, she was no longer in control of her body since that was not particularly what she wanted to say or do.

"I know this is new and exciting for you but try not to run off again okay sweetie?"

"Okay daddy," she heard herself say to what she realized was a distraught Hiram, who was trying and failing to put on a happy face.

That face combined with the field of tombstones made Rachel realize that she was at a funeral and with the white dress she was wearing she knew the funeral had to be the one for Christopher Hudson.

"Daddy." A few tears streamed down Hiram's face. "Why are you crying?"

Hiram sniffed a few times. "It's nothing honey, Daddy's friend is just leaving on a trip for a while and this makes Daddy sad."

Rachel had always felt too much, it was what made her an excellent and critically acclaimed Broadway actor, but this same quality had always made her sensitive to other people's emotions. She fed off the emotions of the people around her, having happy people around her made her happier and vice versa. As she grew older, her ability to control this became better and better but it was one of the reasons why she always enjoyed going to parties and being around happy people. However, her young age on this day, combined with the fact the upset person was her daddy, made her eyes well up and caused her to sniffle in preparation for some major water works.

"Honey," Hiram said as he brushed her cheek. "I know it's hard but can you try and be a big girl for daddy today and not cry?"

Rachel sniffed a few times before she rubbed the tears from her eyes. "Okay, I'll try."

Hiram smiled. "That's my girl."

"When is your friend coming back?"

"I don't know," Hiram said as he smiled sadly. "He might never come back."

"Why not?"

"Because," he said after thinking about it for a moment. "There are some trips that you can't come back from."

"Oh…" Rachel looked down and frowned as she thought the statement over before she looked up and asked, "Where's dad?"

The sad smile turned into a frown. "Dad is off taking pictures somewhere." He bounced her a few times against his hip. "Come on, time to get to our seats."

Rachel blinked and found herself sitting in front of an open gravesite. Still a passenger in her own dream, she looked to her left and saw an empty chair, a little boy, and a crying Carole. When she looked to her right, she saw a crying Hiram and it took all she had to not follow her daddy and burst out into tears, but she had promised him to be a big girl and big girls could control when they cried.

Looking past Hiram, a casket team of eight carried a coffin across the grass, preceded by a chaplain. The casket team slowly marched in perfect lockstep in their dress uniforms as they reached the gravesite and gently placed the casket on the lowering device.

What few wrinkles that formed on the flag during the trip were smoothed over as one of the men made sure it was centered on the casket. That task complete, he joined his fellow soldiers off to the side and the chaplain began the service. His somber task was accompanied by a soundtrack of crickets and muffled sobs and when he finished he looked over and nodded at the men in uniform lined up to his left, the first of whom wore a sword instead of holding a rifle tilted away from their bodies.

The sword holder took two steps forward, made a crisp left turn, and then took another step before turning around to face the rest of the men waiting at rest. He waited a beat before his voice rang out. "Detail. Order, ARMS."

The remaining seven men brought their feet together and tucked their rifles, made out of wood and steel long ago for a different time, tight against their legs.

"Port, ARMS."

Rifles were picked up in three distinct, but smooth, motions.

"Right, FACE."

The seven men turned 90 degrees to their right.

"Ready."

The rifles were brought up and braced against their shoulders, pointing above the casket.

"Aim."

The safeties made an audible click as they were turned off.

"Fire."

Seven rifles rang out as one. Rachel jumped in her seat. A flock of birds flew out of a grove of trees.

"Ready."

The men cycled the bolts so a new blank cartridge was ready to fire.

"Aim."

The rifles were brought up to their shoulders again.

"Fire."

Though she was prepared for the noise, Rachel still jumped in her seat.

"Ready."

The rifle bolts were cycled for the final time.

"Aim."

Trees stopped rustling, crickets stopped chirping, and even Rachel held her breath. It was as if the entire world waited in anticipation.

"Fire."

The final shot rang out.

"Left, FACE."

The seven men crisply turned left to face the casket again.

"Present, ARMS."

In a sign of respect, all seven rifles were held out towards the casket. With a one final order, the three men on either side of the formation set down their rifles so each one rested against the other two, forming a tripod-like structure, and leaving the lone man in the middle to stand guard.

As the seven men began walking towards the casket, a single bugler began to play "Taps" and continued to play as the men reached the casket. The man wearing the sword split away to stand to the side of the seated people, while the other six took places and stood around the casket. Twelve times, the men meticulously folded the flag so that it finally resembled a triangle with the stars pointed upwards. When the folding was complete, the man off to the side stepped forward and took the flag from one of the six men.

After he turned around, he took two steps forward, knelt in front of Carole, and even though he spoke quietly, everyone in the field heard him when he said, "Ma'am. On behalf of the President of the United States, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and a grateful nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one's service to Country and Corps."

Rachel blinked and, as Carole took the flag from the man, the scene in front of her swirled away like water in a drain. It was replaced with the interior of an unknown house that she found herself wandering through.

Knickknacks and photographs lined shelves and tables. Dark reds, oranges, and browns covered the walls, floors, and furniture upholstery. And even though it looked like someone had tried to tidy things up, there was no mistaking that this was a house that people lived in and enjoyed living in. It was easily one of the warmest and most comfortable houses she had ever been in. In fact, the only one that could compare was the home she was currently dreaming in right now. The only things that brought coldness into the house were the men and women, all of whom were dressed in black. Aside from Rachel of course.

A conversation between someone in a uniform and Carole faded in as Rachel slowly wandered by the living room.

"…was an honor to have served with Chris and I wanted to let you know that he saved…"

She tried to will herself back towards the living room but her body wouldn't cooperate. It appeared her younger self was much more interested in exploring the house over listening in on conversations.

Carefully making her way through the people milling about, she found herself standing at the dead end of a hallway in front of a closet. With a slight shrug of her shoulders, she turned around expecting to find her daddy, who had been trailing after her during her exploration. Except she didn't. All she saw was an empty hallway that looked frighteningly long and was growing longer with each passing second.

Still affected from the emotions she felt during the funeral and reception, a small whimper made its way past her lips as she gingerly took a few steps forward. With each step forward, the hallway seemed to grow longer and longer, bringing a sense of terror and tears that pricked at her eyes. As the fear rose, her steps became quicker and quicker until she was sprinting down the hallway.

Her sprinting continued for what felt like hours until a wall forced her to make a right turn. A blind right turn that made her run face first into someone's towering leg causing her to stumble backwards and almost fall over before a pair of hands reached down to steady her.

"Rachel honey, what are you doing back here?" Carole said, who owned the leg that caused her to stumble and also the hands that had steadied her afterwards.

"I was exploring."

"Were you having fun?"

Rachel nodded and looked up to find a sad face. And even though she knew it was Carole, her younger self couldn't shake the feeling that she had no idea who the person standing in front of her was.

"You don't remember me do you?"

Rachel shook her head, rubbed her nose, and began to cry as everything finally got to her.

"Where are your daddies honey?"

"I don't know," Rachel said through her tears with a shrug. "I lost them."

A small smile appeared on Carole's own tear streaked face. "You lost them?" She held out her hand. "C'mon, let's go find them."

The hand remained hanging there before Rachel rubbed her eyes and took it. Carole led her through the house as they looked for her parents, pausing every few moments as Carole stopped to chat with someone new and with each passing second Rachel could sense her younger self was more and more comfortable and safe being led around by the woman.

"Carole," a young man said as he walked up holding a phone. "It's the funeral director. He has some questions for you."

"Can it wait?"

"No," the man said as he shook his head. "It sounded pretty urgent."

"Can you wait for me here Rachel?" She took the phone and asked the man to stay with Rachel before she said, "I'll be right back, then we can look for your parents again."

Rachel nodded even though she didn't want Carole to leave and she really didn't want to wait around with this other person, but daddy asked her to be a big girl today so was determined to stay right where she was and not cry. This was easier said than done. After a few minutes, she began to cry again, and the man who brought over the phone failed at comforting her. The man's continued attempts to comfort her led to more failure until he ran off flustered in search of Carole, leaving Rachel all alone. More people tried to soothe her to no avail as her crying became louder and louder from the pressure of being alone with all these sad people.

She kept on crying when she felt someone poking her arm, causing her to look up and uncover her eyes. While she immediately knew it was Finn and giggled internally at his dress shoes, slacks, and shirt, her younger self furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at the boy around her age poking her.

"Who are you?" the boy asked.

"I— I'm Rachel Berry."

"Why are you crying?"

"Because I'm sad?"

"Why are you sad?"

"Because everyone else is sad," Rachel said as her tears stopped out of frustration with this boy. "Who are you and why are you asking me all these questions?"

"Uh," Finn said as he took a step back, not prepared for Rachel's shift in demeanor. "This is my home."

"You still haven't told me your name," Rachel said as she stepped forward and pressed her advantage. The funny thing, her older self noticed, was that she was taller than Finn at this age and growing taller by the second as Finn shrank back.

"Finn Hudson?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yea."

"But you didn't seem sure when you said your name."

"Yea well, I am sure," Finn said as he stood taller. "Why are you here?"

"My daddies brought me."

"Daddies?"

"I have two daddies," Rachel said as she held up a corresponding number of fingers.

"Lucky," Finn said as he looked down for a second and kicked at the carpet. "Where are they?"

"I—I don't know."

"Why not?"

Rachel's bottom lip quivered before she said, "Because I lost them!

Perhaps sensing that the conversation was tilting back in his favor, Finn leaned forward and said, "How could you lose your daddies?"

"I don't know," Rachel said, right before she covered her eyes and burst into tears again.

"Wait. I didn't mean it! Please stop crying?"

Her tears continued.

"Please?"

The tears kept flowing until she felt a hand tugging at her arm, pulling her own hand away from her face whereupon she saw Finn's horrified face through her tears. Finn's hand began to tug insistently on hers, trying to drag her somewhere. Not ever one to be dragged around by anyone, especially by a boy she didn't know, she resisted Finn's attempts while bawling her eyes out. Not that her resistance did her any good.

Finn pulled her along for a half dozen steps before they made a 180 degree turn and she stumbled over the first step of a staircase. His hand jerked upward and steadied her as she continued being dragged up the stairs. Her sense of time was lost as all she could hear and feel were the pounding of two sets of feet as they climbed and it seemed that they were climbing the stairs forever. Until they weren't. The trip down what Rachel assumed to be a hallway took no time at all in comparison. She tried to will her dream self to stop crying, open her eyes, and look around because, frankly, she was embarrassed at how much crying her younger self was doing. Eventually the lack of movement caused her to open her eyes and tears continued to stream down her face.

The first thing that caught her eye was the wallpaper. Cowboys and Indians repeated the same battles, rode the same horses, and lived the same lives. Up and down, left to right, over and over again. The rest of the room was a typical boy's room. A smattering of toys, clothes, books, and more toys covered the floor and bed and, like the rest of the house, it looked like there was an attempt to clean up the room that didn't that didn't quite work. The second thing she noticed was Finn's face as it continued to look horrified as tears kept streaming down Rachel's face. He looked around for a few seconds before he brought his hands up and rubbed her arms. This only made her close her eyes and cry even harder.

After she heard him scramble around a bit, she opened her eyes again and noticed the third and most interesting thing in the room which was an extremely familiar looking stuffed monkey staring her in the face.

"Here," Finn said with a hopeful look on his face.

She shook her head.

"Here," Finn said as he thrust the monkey further forward.

"I don't wanna," Rachel said as she shook her head again.

The monkey was shoved even further until it was grazing her nose and it continued to tickle her nose for a few seconds until she grabbed it from his outstretched hands. She couldn't explain it if she tried, but like magic, the sense of dread and terror she felt from not having her daddies around and surrounded by sad people melted away as she hugged the monkey to her chest.

"Better?"

She nodded as fresh tears stopped making their way down her face.

"Good…great," Finn said as he plopped down onto his bed. "Wonderful."

After sniffling a few times, she took a seat next to Finn where they spent the next minute or two in a comfortable silence.

"Can I keep him?"

"You can keep him for as long as you need."

"Thank you," she said as she hugged the monkey even tighter.

"I—" he started.

"Rachel!" They heard a male voice yelling from downstairs.

"Daddy!" Rachel said as she sprang up and ran down to the first floor where she found a frantic Hiram, Leroy, and Carole looking for her. As she reached the last few steps, she leapt into her daddy's arms and let out a sob.

After they finish clutching at each other, Hiram leaned back and rubbed her still wet cheeks before he said, "Where have you been young lady?"

"I wandered around," she said as she shrugged. "Then a nice lady tried to help me find you and dad, then I went upstairs with a boy, then I came back down here when you called."

Hiram slightly quirked his lips. "A boy?"

Rachel nodded. "He was nice." She presented her gift. "He gave me this monkey."

"Well, that was nice of him, but it's time to give it back. We need to go soon."

"No!" she said as she shook her head. "He said I could keep him!"

Hiram opened his mouth as if to protest before smiling and saying, "Okay honey, how can I argue if he said you could have him."

Two pairs of pounding feet ran up to them and Carole and Leroy both said, "You found her!"

"I sure did," Hiram said as he nodded. "Apparently, she was upstairs with a little boy. Even gave her a gift."

The other two adults stared at him for an instant before bursting out into laughter.

"Apparently Finn wants to get started at a young age," Leroy said.

"Oh, stop it," Carole said as she rolled her eyes and smacked him on the arm.

"If you can figure out how," Hiram said as he picked up Rachel. "Let me know. I'd happily pay for that info."

"For you, there'd be no charge."

"Always ganging up on me," Leroy said, shaking his head.

"Only because you deserve it," Hiram said as he spun around to face the other two adults.

This led to Rachel looking up over her daddy's shoulder, straight up the staircase where she saw Finn looking down at her with a smile on his face. She gave him a little wave, he waved back, and she smiled.

"I'm sorry we have to leave so soon," Leroy said.

"No, I understand," Carole said. "Thank you for coming all the way out here."

"There's no need to thank us," Hiram said as he bounced Rachel up and down a bit. "Of course, we'd be back for something like this."

Leroy nodded and hugged Carole. "If there's anything you need. Anything at all. Just give us a call."

"Thank you."

Carole hugged Hiram and Rachel at the same time before the Berry family made their way to the front door. With a final wave to Carole, they opened the door and walked out of the house.

The door slammed shut and Rachel woke up in her bed in Lima.

"No way. No way," she said to herself. "That's impossible."

Her right hand flailed around until it latched onto the thing she was looking for and pulled her old monkey up to her face. It was the one she had just dreamed about, a little worse for wear, but it looked pretty much the same. As she stretched out her arms above her and played around with her old monkey, her eyes spotted something on it and brought it closer to her face. With everything she had learned, there was no reason to doubt what was on the monkey, but she just didn't want to believe it. Too bad the final piece of evidence was staring her right in the face. There was a little tag on the monkey and on that tag were two faded letters, written by a marker long ago. Those two letters were an "F" and an "H".

"No. Fucking. Way."

* * *

Once again, something was off with Rachel and like last time, Finn had no idea what was causing it. She wasn't really speaking to him but unlike before, it didn't seem to be out of coldness. It was more like she was being absent minded about the things around her. At least this time, he was pretty sure that it wasn't his fault. Or at least he hoped it wasn't anything that he did because if the last time was any indication he wanted no part of Rachel's bad side ever again. He knew he hadn't been lying to her about anything and ran their interactions from the past few days through his head and came up with nothing.

"What do you mean we're not doing anything tonight?"

"I mean," Finn said as he finished washing his hands. "We're not doing anything tonight."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm playing poker tonight with the guys," Finn said as he began walking to the basement. "Which I told you a few days ago."

"Hmm," Rachel said as she tapped her lips with a finger. "I'm not sure I remember you telling me that."

"You know," Finn said as he paused at the top of the stairs. "For someone with such a flawless memory, it sure is flawed sometimes."

"I'll have you know that my memory is flawless," Rachel said as she followed him downstairs.

"Sure doesn't seem that way from here."

Rachel rolled her eyes and said, "I'm playing with you guys tonight."

"No," Finn said as he pulled out the poker table and began setting it up.

"I'm playing with you tonight."

"No."

"I'm playing."

"Do you even know how to play?"

"Nope."

"Then why the heck would we let you play with us?"

"Because otherwise I'd have to stay down here and sing all night while you guys played."

Finn froze.

"It's a good thing the basement is soundproof."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Well," Rachel said as she shrugged and ran a finger along the half-assembled table. "I have been known to do many a thing to get my way." She smiled impishly. "And not all of them were nice."

Finn remained frozen for a long second as he thought over the choices. "Fine. You can play, but when you lose you have to go upstairs and watch TV or listen to music or read or anything but stay down here."

"Who says I'm going to lose?"

"It's your first time playing," he said as he resumed setting up the table. "You're going to lose."

"We'll see."

"Wait, do you even have cash?"

"Why would I need cash?"

"Because you play poker for cash, so it's kinda a useful thing to have."

"Finn."

"Yes, Rachel?"

"Can I borrow some money?"

"No, and you can't play if you have no money."

Rachel cleared her throat and began running a scale.

"Okay, okay. I'll let you borrow some money," he said as he finished setting up the table. "Which you'll have to pay me back somehow when you lose."

"Like I said before," she said as she leaned over the table. "We'll see."

A few minutes later the rest of the guys began trickling into the basement through the back entrance of the house and after a bit of banter they took their seats at the table with Puck giving Rachel an evil glare as she slid into the seat next to him.

"Who invited the chick?"

"I invited myself."

Puck made a big show of turning towards Finn. "Dude, why is she here?"

"I'm playing with you guys," she said before Finn could respond.

"Fuck that," Puck said. "This is guy's night. There's no way you're playing."

Rachel looked over at Finn, cleared her throat, and hummed a few notes.

Finn widened his eyes then said, "She's playing with us because she is."

"No, fuck that."

"Man," Mike said from Rachel's other side. "Just leave it alone. It won't kill us if she plays once."

"Dude, why are you taking her side?"

"Because it's nice to have a girl at the table," Sam said.

"You're with them too aren't you Artie?"

Artie shrugged and said, "Yea, I am."

"Fuck." He turned toward Rachel and pointed at her. "You better not fuck up this night."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "I'll try not to mess things up for you guys."

"I'm sure she'll do just fine," Mike said. "Plus, it's not like she'll be playing for that long."

"Yes, that's right," Rachel said. "I won't do anything to— Wait. What did you mean by that?"

"Well, you are in the company of an expert poker player," Mike said as he nodded at Finn.

"Expert poker player?" Rachel asked as she looked over at Finn.

"Mike's just exaggerating," Finn said as he rubbed his face. "I'm not that good."

"Come on dude, you're great at poker," Mike said as he passed out the chips. "That's why you always took the entire football team's money, mine included. Plus, I know you win tons of money online. It's how you can afford this exquisite poker table and these casino weighted chips."

Finn groaned.

"You know it's true," Mike said before turning to Rachel. "This guy barely passed Calc 100, but he can calculate pot odds in his sleep. It's like he's a poker savant."

"Pot odds?"

"Uh," Mike said as he struggled to find a way to explain the term. "Basically it's a way for a player to figure out if it's worth it to call a raise."

Rachel stared blankly at Mike.

"Whatever," Finn said as he rubbed his face. "Can we just play?"

A chorus of agreements came from the rest of the guys and Finn fanned out the deck of cards on the table.

"As usual, high card is dealer, boys."

"Wait," Rachel said. "What's a high card?"

Puck groaned. "Tell me you know how to play."

"Nope," Rachel said as she shook her head. "Finn is supposed to teach me."

"I knew you'd fuck things up tonight."

* * *

Beginner's luck. There was no other explanation to it. Finn had seen it before and he was sure he'd see it again because, for some reason, rookie card players always did well their first time at the table. There was something about the randomness of rookie players which always gave more experienced players fits. They did things that no one else would do which was why pros copied some of the things amateurs did, but even then some things just weren't done. This was why he was staring at Rachel sitting across from him and they were the only two remaining players at the table.

Things started out like Finn had imagined they would. Rachel had no idea what a good hand was, played recklessly, and even won a few hands, but she eventually lost most of her chips. However, she quickly got the hang of it and slowly began to win her chips back. In fact, she had even knocked Puck out of the game, much to her amusement and glee and his anger. He took care of the other three and after a bit of banter the rest of the guys headed home, leaving him with a pretty big chip lead on her but she won a few big hands and their chip counts were about even now.

"Call," Rachel said.

"You sure you want to do that?"

Rachel smiled, and slid a stack of chips forward.

Finn shrugged and flipped over his cards causing Rachel to groan after she looked at them.

"I swore you were bluffing!"

Finn shrugged again he raked in the pot and began sorting.

Rachel sighed then leaned back and yawned, forcing Finn's eyes to quickly skim up her arched chest. His eyes shot back down to his chips as she quickly righted herself and even though she gave him a sly grin, he had no idea if she had caught him looking or not.

"You know, I think we've been trading the same chips back and forth for the past hour."

"Hour?" Finn said. "More like three hours."

"What?" Rachel said as she pulled out her phone. "Oh my god, how is it already 2 AM?"

"Well, you see, the Earth rotates around its axis—"

"Shut up," she said as she shuffled the cards.

"You did ask."

Rachel rolled her eyes and dealt two cards to each of them. Since the dealer always acted first in heads up play, Finn watched carefully as Rachel bent over and peaked at her cards before she called the big blind. As it had happened all night, he was no longer surprised at Rachel's excellent poker face which really amazed him since he was always pretty good at reading people, but he couldn't find Rachel's tell.

After looking at his cards, he checked and Rachel burned a card before dealing the flop which didn't help him at all. "Check."

"Check," she said then burned a card and dealt the turn. "Finn?"

He looked down at the new card then said, "Yea?"

"How much of your dad's funeral do you remember?"

"Uh, not much. Bits and pieces, here and there." He grabbed a small stack of chips and pushed them forward. "$100"

Rachel glanced at the new card again before she said, "Fold."

"Why do you wanna know?" he said as he dragged over his pot.

"Just curious."

It was Finn's turn to yawn as he waited while Rachel shuffled the deck and dealt the cards.

"So what do you remember about it?" She peaked at her cards. "Raise."

"Call," Finn said after he looked at his cards thought about it for a sec. "Uh, I remember the loud gunshots from the M1's and that sad bugle. The rest, I don't really remember."

A new card was turned over.

"Raise." A slightly bigger stack of chips was slid forward and Rachel quickly called which caused Finn to raise his eyebrows. "That good of a hand?"

She shrugged, flipped over the final card, and gave him a second sly smile that he couldn't figure out.

"So, why _do_ you want to know?"

Rachel fidgeted a bit then looked down and said, "No reason."

Finn furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, not so much due to her curiosity into his dad's funeral, but because of the fact that she was being shy and meek about the reason which was something he never expected her to be.

"Well, I guess I have to raise again," Finn said with a smile.

Rachel grinned back. "Then I guess I have to call you."

They flipped their cards over and Finn groaned as he realized he just lost a pretty big pot.

"You know you haven't won yet right?" Finn said as he listened to her cackling as she raked in her winnings.

"Every little bit counts. Plus, you started out with many more chips than me so I like to think of it as good indicator of progress on my way to beating Mr. Poker Expert here."

Finn rolled his eyes.

"Besides, to hear Mike tell it, you've got plenty of money to spare so what's $120 to you?"

He rolled his eyes again. "The money isn't why we play. It just gives us some time to shoot the shit and catch up during the summer."

"So how much money do you make from poker?"

"That's none of your business. Call."

"Hmm," Rachel said. "Must be a lot if you won't give me a straight answer. Check."

"Check. Still not telling."

"Fine. Be that way. Check."

"Raise."

Rachel glanced at her cards then the community cards. "Raise."

Finn's eyebrows followed suit. "Look at you." He rubbed his chin. "You've got a pair. No, you've got two pair. Otherwise, you wouldn't have just re-raised me."

Rachel smiled and shrugged.

"Well, just to let you know, I have trips which beats two pair."

"Yes, I do remember you mentioning what beats what at the beginning of this night. I also remember you saying that you have the option to call, raise, or fold."

Finn considered his options. He was sure she picked up her two pair on the flop and they were the top two pair since he picked up his set of the lowest valued card. The turn was worthless to the both of them which meant she only had one card to get a winning hand and there was little chance of that since there were only four cards that could help her. This meant her chances of winning were sitting in the single digits. The low single digits. Considering their chip stacks, he knew that he was a little behind her but that didn't really matter since they were about even and came to a decision.

"All in."

"Call."

"You really don't want to do that."

"I believe you're bluffing."

"I'm not. I really have a set and you have about a 5% chance of winning this hand if you call. So I'm giving you a chance to back out."

"I don't need that chance since I'm going to beat you. And if I am see things correctly, I have slightly more chips than you which means if I win this hand, I will have won and beaten the poker expert."

The final card was flipped over and Finn was stunned to see that it paired up the highest card from the flop and from Rachel's grin while she was turning over her cards, she saw it too.

"So this means I win right?"

"Yes," Finn said as he stood up and stretched. "This means you win."

"Ha! I beat Mr. Poker Expert!"

"You know that it's not much of an accomplishment to beat someone like that right?"

Rachel stood up and followed Finn in stretching. "It's still an accomplishment though."

"An accomplishment based on luck."

"Luck is involved with almost everything, so it still counts." She started walking towards the stars. "And while I would love to continue rubbing my victory in your face, it is well past 2AM and I would like some sleep."

"Some victory," Finn mumbled.

Rachel stopped on the second step and spun around. "Excuse me?"

"Hmm?" Finn said as he walked up to the bottom of the steps, bringing him face to face with her. "I didn't say anything."

"I'll have you know my hearing is perfect."

"Like your memory?"

"Like my memory. So I heard it when you said that."

"I didn't say anything."

"You can lie all you want," Rachel said then began poking Finn in the chest, emphasizing each word of her next sentence. "But I know you said something. Something that sounded like, 'Some victory.'"

"Yes, yes it did sound like that."

"It's still a victory over you," she said as she kept poking him.

"And I beat you at pool."

"What?" She looked down as he grabbed her wrist to stop the poking. "Are we keeping score now?"

"I don't know." He rolled his eyes as she tried to keep poking him. "Are we?"

"If you want—"

He gave her wrist a tug and she fell forward, catching herself just before she face-planted herself into his chest by planting her hands onto his chest. They were nose to nose for a moment until she surprised him again by closing the gap and meeting his lips with hers. He stood frozen as his brain tried to catch up with what was happening in front of and to him and when it did he put his hands on her hips and began kissing her back.

They kept going until she froze in his arms and pulled back with a look of shock on her face. It looked like she was about to say something when she opened her mouth but quickly closed it, turned around, and ran up the stairs, slamming the door closed behind her.

Finn stood there, stunned, at the bottom of the stairs for a few seconds.

"Well shit."

* * *

A/N 2: So that happened.

Also, note to self: Never ever write a scene between two little kids ever again.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: An early Turkey Day gift for you all.

* * *

A quick summary: Rachel Berry was an out of control diva from Broadway who had been shipped to Lima, Ohio where she wound up living in Finn Hudson's house and was forced to work with him in an auto repair shop. They fought like cats and dogs but as they slowly learned about each other their fighting had taken on a different, more playful, tone. Last night, Rachel played poker with the boys and beaten them all. After a bit of banter, they ended up on the stairs where she kissed him then ran off.

Some of these things, like the Broadway diva part, Finn had no idea about but even if he did, the only thing that was on his mind was that last bit. It was that same part that he ran over and over again in his mind as he sat at the dining room table the next morning. He did it so much that he could feel her hips in his hands, taste her lips on his, and smell her shampoo tickling his nose again and he didn't really mind it at all.

The only problem with repeating this memory in his head was that he also had to see that look of shock on her face after she pulled away from him. At least, he thought it was shock and if he thought about it a little harder, he hoped it was shock because if it wasn't shock, it was either horror or disgust and Finn could feel his stomach drop if he thought that way. So he tried his best to not think about it that way while he waited for Rachel to wake up and make her way down for her morning cups of coffee.

And wait he did.

If he didn't know better, he might have assumed that she was purposely staying up there to avoid seeing him but he did know better, which meant he knew there was no way she was getting up any time close the morning, especially considering when they went to sleep. He went for an extra-long run and took an extra-long shower which did nothing to dent the time that he spent waiting and thinking and thinking and thinking, doing nothing good for his stomach.

Starting up on his third cup of coffee, he finally heard the creaking of the stairs making him sit up straighter in his seat. He watched as she shambled into the dining room, freezing the moment she spotted him sitting there. She looked down and hurried into the kitchen to grab her own cup of coffee. When she came back, she froze again before taking the seat opposite from Finn with eyes only for her drink.

He stared at her staring at her coffee for a minute before he broke the silence. "Morning."

She looked up, startled, and mumbled, "Morning."

Thinking that the ice was broken, Finn assumed that she would start talking with him, maybe not about the events of last night, but one of the endless opinions she had. Instead, she didn't speak another word and looked back down at her coffee. He cracked a half smile as he was reminded of her first morning here and decided that he would wait for her to speak first since her luggage contents weren't quite at the same level as what they had to talk about today.

And wait he did.

It wasn't until he had finished his third cup of coffee and she had finished her second that she finally spoke up.

"I know you don't like me," she said with her head down. "And that all I've done since I've been here is annoy you while you've been more than nice to me for no reason whatsoever. And I don't know what came over me at that moment to cause me to… do what I did last night, but believe me when I say it won't happen again because I have no intention of doing it again."

"You don't?" he asked with an amused grin.

"No, I don't," she said, still looking down. "I think we should keep our interactions to a minimum from now on during the rest of my time here. Obviously, we'll have to talk during work, but we should only talk about work and work related subjects. At home, I'll be spending most of my time in my room from now on and won't be bothering you if you're in the basement... or anywhere else in the house for that matter. If you'll allow me, I'll continue to cook and do the dishes with you when the opportunities arise, but I understand if you're uncomfortable with that.

"I think we can keep doing those things."

"Oh." She finally looked up, shocked, until she recomposed herself. "So, what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry I kissed you."

"I'm not."

"You— you're not?"

"There were and are plenty of things I was and am during and after that kiss, but sorry is and was definitely not one of them." He blinked a few times. "I have no idea what I just said."

A hint of a smile appeared on Rachel's face. "I did and I appreciate the sentiment."

"Oh."

"So… you really didn't mind that I kissed you?"

"No."

"Would you mind if I kissed you again?"

"Yes."

"Wh—"

"Because." He stood up. "_I_ want to kiss _you_."

"Oh," she squeaked.

He started to walk around the table when the front door was flung open and he heard a familiar voice doing an awful Hispanic accent.

"Lucy! I'm home!"

Finn looked over and was amazed to see Kurt walking towards him.

"Dude," Finn said as he changed directions towards Kurt. "I thought you were doing that internship all summer."

"I am." Finn picked up Kurt in a bear hug. "Watch the hair. Watch the hair." Finn set him down again. "But Fashion Week just finished and Señor Ralph Lauren gave us interns the weekend off before he works us to the bone again."

"That's awesome dude."

"And where are Mr. Hummel and Mrs. Hudson?"

"Day long shopping trip in the city."

Kurt winced. "Dad must've been thrilled with that."

Finn chuckled.

"I see you're taking advantage of their absence," Kurt said as he leaned over to the left to look past Finn.

"What'd you mean?"

"That young lady dressed in one of the fine Thomas Pink shirts I swiped for you, do mom and dad know about her? And who is she?"

"Oh yea, mom and dad know about her." Rachel stood up and walked over. "And this is—"

"Oh-my-God. Oh-my-God. Oh-my-God. Rachel Berry!"

Finn's eyes darted between Rachel and Kurt. "Do you know each other?"

"Yes. Of course we know— Wait. No, I mean I know of her, but she has no idea who I am."

"And just who is this?" Rachel asked.

"Oh." Finn clapped Kurt on his back. "This is Kurt, my stepbrother."

"That's Kurt?" Rachel asked with eyes wide open. "Not quite what I imagined him to be."

"Excuse me?" Kurt asked over Finn's laughter.

"That's a long story," Finn said after his laughter died down.

"Wait just a minute here," Kurt said. "Why exactly is Rachel Berry in this house right now?"

"Well—" Finn started.

"Don't tell me she came out here to elope with you. Wait." He began pacing the living room. "That makes no sense. You two don't know each other, but she's here dressed in one of your shirts. Wait. She's been gone from her show for a month due to a nervous breakdown. Or because her actions were hurting the show's PR. Or she has a drug problem." He came to a stop and glanced at Rachel who was glaring at him. "All rumors of course. But that still doesn't explain why she's here in this house."

"Well—"

"Wait." Kurt held up his hand. "Do you even know who she is?"

"Uh, she's Rachel Berry?"

"I meant do you know what she does."

"No?"

"No?"

"Am I supposed know what she does?"

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Kurt walked behind Rachel and put his hands on her shoulders, who was highly amused at the conversation so far. "This is a Tony Award winning Broadway star!"

"Tony Award…?"

"The Oscars for Broadway."

"Oh… Broadway…?"

"Musical theatre. You know: _West Side Story,_ _Wicked,_ _Rent_. Wait. Ugh." He made a face. "You're yanking my chain."

Finn smiled and shrugged then looked at Rachel. "Broadway star huh?"

Rachel shrugged then said, "It pays the bills."

"Tony Award huh?"

"I am good at my job."

"Were you gonna tell me about this job you're so good at?"

"You never asked."

"Wait. Wait. Wait," Kurt said. "You still have to explain why she's here."

"Uh," Finn said. "She's gonna have to answer you, cause I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"Mom just said she had to get away from the city," Finn said as he shrugged, then joined Kurt in looking at Rachel.

Rachel looked at Kurt then Finn before rolling her eyes. "Well, not to disappoint you Kurt, but none of those reasons you gave have any truth to them."

"Do tell then," Kurt said.

Rachel took a deep breath before letting it out. "As you both now know, I am a Broadway star and with that certain benefits and opportunities have been afforded to me which I eagerly enjoyed, too eagerly, if my fathers and agent/manager are to be believed. They think that I have gotten out of control."

"I can see why they might think that," Finn said.

"Hey!" She smacked Finn on the arm. "Anyway, like I was saying. They believed I had gotten out of control and thought that some time away from New York would be good for me. Apparently, this is my hometown and my fathers are friends with—"

"Wait. Wait. Wait," Kurt said. "You were born here?"

"Yes."

"But, your Wikipedia page says you were born in…" Rachel grinned as Kurt trailed off. "I don't think it says where you were born."

"That's right."

"You were really born in our little town?" Kurt asked, still unbelieving.

"I can't quite believe it either, but apparently," Rachel said, glancing at Finn. "Plenty of important things happened to me when I was here."

A silence fell over the trio.

"So, Rachel," Kurt said. "Can we talk about _Spring Awakening_? I mean I've only seen it five times when I've been lucky enough to win the rush lottery and three more times when I've sat on stage."

Rachel's eyes lit up. "You've seen me on stage?"

"Of course I have. I make it a point to see all the musicals that get nominated for a Tony. And let me say that you definitely deserved your award."

Finn's eyes glazed over as Rachel found a kindred spirit in Kurt and they chattered away about all the aspects of Broadway and musical theatre. And he meant all of them, since it sounded like they went straight to the beginnings of Broadway after a quick discussion of the current shows. While Finn enjoyed some of the music that came out of that part of New York City, he had never felt the need to go see a show during his visits to see Kurt. Something about the dancing and melodrama rubbed him the wrong way, so he usually did what he did best while Kurt and their parents were at a show; he looked for food to eat. Which was what he did while they happily talked.

After he made himself a sandwich and grabbed a bottle of water, he made his way back to the dining room and was quickly shooed away by both of them after he told them he was going to the living room. His eyes were fixed on the TV while he ate but he wouldn't have been able to tell you what he saw even under the threat of death. All his mind wanted to pay attention to were the excited voices and laughter coming from the dining room, even if he couldn't make heads or tails of the bits and pieces he heard.

"Hey, I'm going to football practice," he said as he poked his head into the dining room, where he was promptly ignored by the two people in there who were only interested in discussing musical theatre. Figuring Kurt would be too busy, Finn sent a quick text message to his mom to let her know Kurt had made a quick trip home.

"Uh, bye?"

"Did you hear something?" Kurt asked about half a minute after Finn left.

"No," Rachel said as she shook her head. "Now, where were we?"

* * *

Finn opened the front door after a long practice and heard the telltale sign of his parents return by the sound of Burt's deep laughter mixing with Rachel's higher pitched, musical laughter. And as he made his way deeper into the house, he saw the four of them sitting around the dining room table holding a drink.

"Finn! You're home," Carole said.

"So are you guys. Thought you'd be out there past dinner."

"Don't be difficult," Carole said. "You know we'd come back early when you told us that Kurt was back home for the weekend." She grinned. "Or perhaps you were hoping for some time alone?"

"Huh? Why would I want some time alone?"

"Never mind sweetie." His mom turned to head back to the dining room. "I made both of your favorites and we're having an early dinner to celebrate so get cleaned up."

Dinner was a great, leisurely experience with Kurt detailing his experiences working at one of the premier clothing designers in the world as everyone ate. Carole, Burt, and Finn were horrified to learn just how long and hard Kurt had to work at his internship that paid him the sum of exactly zero dollars a week, but Kurt seemed to accept that this is how things were done in his chosen profession and as long as Kurt was happy then his family were happy for him. On the other hand, Rachel took his experiences as a matter of fact since she came from an industry that required its members to go through a similar beginning. She was much more interested in the latest fashion rumors since she had been away from any source of fashion news for a month which Kurt was only happy to provide.

As dinner wrapped up, Finn began the nightly ritual of clearing the table and Rachel soon began to help him. Once that task was done, he took his position in front of the sink as dishwasher with Rachel standing next to him as his dryer.

"Finn."

"Yea Kurt?"

"I'll do the dishes tonight."

"You wanna do the dishes?"

"Yes."

"But you hate doing the dishes. You say it's awful for your hands or whatever."

"It is," Kurt said, as he pushed Finn out of the way. "But that's what rubber gloves are for and besides Rachel and I need to continue our discussion on Broadway. We're only up the 80's."

Rachel only gave him a sheepish grin when he looked over at her.

"Oh." Finn stood behind them, doing nothing while Kurt disdainfully put on a pair of gloves and began to wash dishes. "I guess I'll be downstairs then."

Once again, he was ignored as the pair in front of him resumed their conversation on Broadway and he couldn't believe that Kurt was screwing him this badly and he was pretty sure they didn't even notice when he walked out of the kitchen.

"Kicked out of the kitchen?" Carole asked from the living room couch.

"Uh." Finn scratched his head. "Yea, by Kurt of all people."

"He's just star-struck," Carole said. "It's not every day you meet a Broadway star. Plus, you know how much he loves his showtunes."

"Yea, I guess." He scratched his head again. "Mom, did you know she was on Broadway?"

"Of course I knew. I wouldn't have invited someone I didn't know to stay in our home."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"There wasn't a reason to," Carole said with a shrug.

"Huh…"

"Does it matter?"

"No, I guess it doesn't."

"Wanna watch the baseball game?" Burt asked.

"Nah, I'm pretty tired." Finn said at the top of the basement stairs. "Night."

"Night."

"Night, honey."

* * *

Sweat dripped off of Finn's chin as he stepped into the house after his morning run and found Rachel and Kurt chatting away on the couch. It didn't surprise him that they were talking about Broadway again but what did surprise him was the fact that they were even up this early.

"You guys are up early."

"Finn! Kurt's knowledge of Broadway is amazing!"

"He does love that stuff."

"It even comes close to matching mine."

"Excuse me?" Kurt said. "We'll just have to see who knows more about the Great White Way before I go to the airport."

Finn rubbed his face with his towel then headed downstairs to take a shower, this time not even bothering to tell them where he was going since he knew he'd just be ignored again. This proved to be true when neither of them seemed to notice him coming back up the stairs and plant himself onto the couch next to Rachel.

His fingers drummed his legs over and over again as he found himself with absolutely nothing to do except for listening to them go on and on about songs and speeches and dances and actors. He finally decided to turn on the TV and Xbox and, when the loud intro to his zombie game did nothing to disturb the pair, he started up a new game. As the first of hundreds of zombies began to die from his bullets, his mind began to focus on the sounds coming from the TV instead of the voices coming from his right.

It took about an hour before Finn's stomach made its presence known and he was once again ignored when he asked if either of the pair would like anything to eat and/or drink. He devoured a sandwich and glass of orange juice before returning to resume his zombie killing activities. Hundreds of zombies died by his hand before he finished the level he was on and, as he twisted around in his seat to stretch, his mind slowly refocused on the conversation next to him. More importantly, he noticed that to feel Rachel's back rubbing against his arm as she bounced up and down while she talked.

"—like to win a Tony?"

"It was amazing, but it wasn't unexpected. I knew I was going to win as soon as I found out who the other nominee were."

Kurt laughed then said, "And how did Mr. St. James feel about losing a Tony to his co-star?"

"Oh…" Finn felt Rachel freeze. "He was crushed. And annoyed. And annoying."

"I'm sure you did something nice to comfort him."

"Um… I'd rather not talk about him right now."

"Oh I see. You want to keep your personal life private."

"Y—"

"Screw that. We're practically best friends now. So tell me what it's like to be dating one of the hottest Broadway stars?"

"Uh…"

"I mean, your relationship must be amazing. You two basically have sex on stage every night. I can't imagine what it's like backstage for you two after that scene."

"Um…"

"I bet you two are talking every night, I mean I can't imagine what it's like to be apart from the love of your life for a month."

"Uh…"

"Finn, your character is being eaten by zombies."

"Huh?" His eyes refocused on the TV screen. "Oh. Whatever. I gotta get ready for Glee practice anyway."

As he made his way to the basement door, he heard Rachel say, "Finn, wait!" which he ignored by heading down the stairs. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he stood around for a few seconds before sitting down in front of his laptop. After five minutes, he wasn't surprised to hear the sound of the door closing at the top of the stairs and footsteps coming down.

"Finn. Wait."

"What for?"

"I can explain."

"Don't bother," Finn said as he slid his laptop away and began shoving the things he needed into his messenger bag. "I get it. The big city girl slumming around in a small town wanted to screw with the guy who's been annoying her all trip."

"No, that's not—"

"Just stop."

"But—"

"No." He spun his laptop around. "I see you enjoy being in headlines, especially when it comes to your endless stream of boyfriends."

"Those are—"

"Was I going to be another notch on your bedpost or something?"

"What? Of course—"

"You know what? Never mind." He slammed his bag shut. "I need to finish getting ready for Glee. I don't want to talk to you right now. Just go."

Her stricken look was ignored because she won a Tony Award and that meant she was a great actress which meant Finn had no idea who she really was and, right now, he was perfectly fine with that. And when it became clear to Rachel he wasn't going to speak again, she turned around and headed back upstairs.

Finn let out a breath and flopped down onto his bed.

* * *

Except for the squeaking of his shoes, the hallways in William McKinley High School were quiet as Finn made his way towards the choir room and quiet was something Finn did not want. Any sort of noise would have helped to keep his mind off of what happened this morning which was why he was glad he had Glee practice. All that singing would be good for him. Unless Mr. Schue was trying to give some deep personal lesson to the kids then they'd all be singing emotional songs.

The loud voices he heard from behind the door gave him a reason to smile and he was glad that he could get his mind off of things for an hour or two. Except when he opened the door he found the thing he was trying to get away from was sitting in a chair in the choir room.

"Hey Finn."

"Mr. Schue, what's Rachel doing here?"

"Uh, Kurt dropped her off on his way to the airport, said you were too busy to bring her with you." He walked over to the piano. "Nice to see him by the way. Glad he's doing something that he loves."

"Yea," Finn said as he nodded. "He loves that fashion stuff."

"All right." Mr. Schue clapped his hands twice. "Let's get started guys."

Finn glanced over in Rachel's direction before walking over to the opposite side of the room to take a seat. They returned to the assignment Mr. Schue gave them last week which made Finn happy because it meant working on songs he liked and he avoided working with Rachel by staying as far away from her as possible which was hard because she kept trying to work in the same group as him. And she was persistent, really persistent. Which was annoying, really annoying.

After playing keep away for the entire rehearsal, Finn took a seat opposite of Rachel again as they listened to Mr. Schue wrap things ups. While Mr. Schue was doing his thing, Finn was worried about the fact that Rachel got a ride here with Kurt who was now in the air on his way back to New York which meant she was probably expecting Finn to give her a ride back home.

A flash of movement from across the room caught Finn's eye and he saw Rachel with her hand raised.

"Mr. Schue?"

"Uh. Yes, Rachel?"

"I know I'm not part of the choir, but I was wondering if I could sing a song that I have prepared."

"Uh." He looked around the room and got no protest. "Sure. I don't see why not."

"Thank you." She popped up out of her seat and strode to the front of the room. "I need some assistance with the song."

Finn groaned because he had a good idea of what was coming.

"Finn," Rachel said with a bright smile. "Would you like to help me?"

"No."

Her smile faltered. "I— Are you sure?"

"Yea, I'm sure." He looked over at the club director. "But I bet Mr. Schue would love to sing with a Broadway star."

"Wait." Mr. Schue snapped his fingers and looked at Rachel as the rest of the room exploded with noise. "All right, all right. Settle down folks. That's where I know you from. I can't believe I didn't recognize you before."

"It's alright. I'm trying to keep a low profile."

"See," Finn said. "He'd be happy to sing with you."

"I never said that," Mr. Schue said.

"Come on Mr. Schue, when else are you gonna be able to sing with a Broadway star?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Mr. Schue said. "Plus, I'm pretty sure she only wants to sing with you." He looked around the room. "And I think the natives are getting restless to hear it."

The choir members started clamoring for Rachel and Finn to sing and after a few seconds of their pressure Finn finally got up and made his way to the front of the room where Rachel handed him some sheet music.

"I took the liberty of picking a song that's on your iPod so you'd recognize it."

He glanced down at the title of the song and, sure enough, it was one that was on his iPod. "Yea, I know this song, but since you're so good with music you should know that I can't hit these notes, so I can't sing this with you."

"Yes." Rachel nodded. "I know that your vocal range won't allow you to hit those notes which is why I rearranged the male vocals which meant I had to rearrange my vocals." She handed out sheet music to the Jazz Band. "This also meant I had to rearrange the instrumentals."

"See Finn?" Mr. Schue said. "You should sing with her after she did all that hard work."

"Oh, it wasn't difficult at all. Granted, Kurt's laptop didn't have the proper program so I had to hand write all of the sheet music, but aside from that it really was quite simple. I just needed to lower the—"

Finn glanced over at Rachel and found her staring at Mr. Schue who was giving her an incredulous look.

"Right— I mean— Of course rearranging the song was difficult."

Mr. Schue clapped Finn on the back. "Wouldn't want to let all that hard work go to waste would you?"

"Fine." He waved the sheet music around. "I'll sing the damn song."

Rachel grinned and clapped her hands before turning to the band and nodding. Finn waited until the guitars kicked in before he started to sing.

You're going away  
And I'm feeling the same  
Thing day after day  
I can't let it go

Everyone in this room  
They've got troubles too  
Secret stories and  
Lies that we never knew

Rachel joined him for the chorus and sang the next verse.

Xavia, who will save us?  
Your smile's on fire  
And still my heart  
Won't let you down, the sound

_I don't wanna be  
__Your favorite enemy  
__Not when I can be loving you, alright  
__Why can't it be?  
__No two people feel  
__The same way at the same time_

Xavia, who will save us?  
Your smile's on fire  
And still my heart  
Won't let you down, the sound

Everyone in this room  
They've got troubles too  
Secret stories and  
Lies that we never knew

You're going away  
_I don't wanna be  
_And I'm feeling the same  
_Your favorite enemy  
_Thing Day after Day  
_I don't wanna be  
_I can't let it go  
_Your favorite enemy_

Xavia, who will save us?  
Your smile's on fire  
And still my heart  
Won't let you down

Xavia, who will save us?  
Your smile's on fire  
And still my heart  
Won't let you down

_One heart to break, One heart  
__One heart to break, One heart  
__One heart to break, My heart  
__One heart to break, My heart_

Rachel finished the final lines staring at Finn as he stared back while the room exploded with applause and cheers around them with Mr. Schue leading the way as he walked to the front of the room.

"That was great guys. Not quite classic rock, but great job nonetheless."

"Finn, I'm sorry." Rachel took a step closer. "I should have told you."

Mr. Schue looked at both of them in confusion before turning to the class and letting them leave while Finn shuffled backwards a few steps.

"And you think that was going to fix things?"

"I thought—"

"This isn't Broadway," Finn said as some stragglers were pulled out of the room by their friends. "We're not in some stupid musical. Singing a song together isn't gonna change things."

"I know that, but I just thought—"

"Well, you thought wrong."

"I know, but—"

"Look." He started chucking stuff into his bag. "I said I didn't want to speak to you before and that really hasn't changed."

Rachel's stricken face almost made Finn change his mind but he turned away and resumed shoving stuff into his bag while he listened to her footsteps fade out of the room. He let out a breath and finished packing his bag.

"Finn," Mr. Schue said from the piano where he was also packing his items, trying not to be noticed. "I'm not sure what's going on between the two of you and it's none of my business, but it seems like she's sorry for whatever she did."

"Maybe she's just acting. She's supposed to be really good at it."

"I— Maybe she is. Maybe she isn't. But if she is, it seems like she did an awful lot of work and I don't see why she would." Mr. Schue slung his bag over his shoulder and headed towards the door. "Anyway, I'll see you next week Finn."

Finn looked around the empty room for a few seconds before rubbing his face, grabbing his bag, and heading out in search of Rachel. Not that he really wanted to see or talk to her right now, but she needed a ride home and he wanted this day to be finished as soon as possible.

The first place he didn't find her was at his truck in the parking lot. The second place was the football field, not that he expected to find her there but it was one of the few places she knew at the school. Thinking that she might have made her way back to the choir room while he was looking for her, he checked there next without any positive results. Racking his mind for other places she might be, he really hoped he found her wandering the halls before he had to go on by one to each girl's restroom.

Coming up with nothing else, he sighed as he trudged towards the nearest restroom. When he got there, he knocked on the door before cracking it open and calling out her name, getting no response. With another sigh, he made his way towards the next restroom but he stopped short as he reached the doors to the other wing of the school. The sound of the piano coming through a pair of doors cracked open made him look towards the auditorium entrance.

He slowly opened the doors, knowing that this set was a bit squeaky, and found Rachel playing the piano up on stage. The volume of the notes of the scale she was repeatedly playing rose and fell with their pitches and, as he slowly made his way towards the front, he saw that her cheeks were tear streaked which made him feel awful. Thinking about what Mr. Schue had told him, he figured there was no way that Rachel would have been crying in private.

The same scale was played over and over again and when it seemed like she wouldn't do anything else and he was getting ready to interrupt her, she opened her mouth and began to sing.

In the fall  
We circle through the leaves  
And talk about the little ones  
And we smile, but never say too much

The moment always vanishing  
One by one the neighbors' lights come on.  
Our October day is almost gone.

I know the borderlines we drew between us  
Keep the weapons down  
Keep the wounded safe  
I know our antebellum innocence  
Was never meant to see the light of our armistice day

In the spring  
We climbed the rolling hills  
And talked about our budding plans  
And we smiled  
Our faces like a mirror  
Showing us our secret sides

But then the fights  
The sharp words splintering the night  
How I couldn't be what you'd need  
But oh how I could make you bleed

I know the borderlines we drew between us  
Keep the weapons down  
Keep the wounded safe  
I know our antebellum innocence  
Was never meant to see the light of our armistice

But how much would I give to have it back again?  
How much did we lose  
To live this way?

You'll go home, I'll stay here  
Seasons keep on marching  
I'll stay here, you'll go home  
With only strangers watching

I'll go home, you'll stay here  
Seasons keep on marching  
You'll stay here, I'll go home  
With only strangers watching

With the song finished, Rachel wiped away a few tears and her eyes shot open when Finn clapped.

"Have you come to tell me that you don't want to see or speak to me again? Because you're doing a poor job of not being in the same room as me."

"I know I haven't been too nice—"

"That is an understatement."

"But you said you wanted to talk so…"

"And if I no longer want to explain things to you?"

Finn pulled himself up on stage and took a seat next to Rachel on the piano bench who didn't move away, which he took as a good sign.

"You really don't want to explain anymore?"

"No, I don't," she said as she turned away from him.

"Well." He poked her in the back, causing her to flinch. "I might just have to make you walk home from here."

She spun around to face him. "You wouldn't dare."

He shrugged.

"You— You are so difficult."

He shrugged again and said, "I'm just letting you to do what you wanted to do before."

"Fine."

Finn smiled as her stern face she was beginning to show signs of cracking.

"There's a reason I never told you about Jesse St. James." She took a deep breath. "We broke up the day before I left for this trip and, with the reduced timeframe, the tabloid magazines had no chance to find out about it which meant there was no way Kurt could know that."

"Why'd you guys break up? All the articles online make it seem like you two are the perfect Broadway couple."

Rachel barked out a laugh. "Perfect? Only in Jesse's mind."

"What'd you mean?"

"Every couple has its problems and the more I think about it, the more I believe we had more problems than the average couple. Aside from the increased pressure of being in the public spotlight all the time, we had to deal with our egos constantly coming into conflict. And yes, I know that my ego is quite large but his ego easily surpasses mine."

"So that's why you guys broke up?"

"In a way, I suppose it was but the actual reason we broke up is that he believed that this incident would tarnish his reputation."

"Seriously? That's the reason you guys broke up?"

"Now that I've said that out loud, I find it completely ridiculous that he broke up with me over that."

"Yea, he's a giant douchebag for doing that to you."

She looked down at her hands in her lap. "I have to admit that I had hoped he would reconsider getting back together during the early days of my forced exile here."

"You did?"

"I did." She looked up at Finn. "But that feeling stopped as soon as I realized I wanted to be with someone else."

"Oh." He scratched his chin. "Did you know he was a douchebag before you started dating him?"

"I had an inkling but I was in love with the idea of dating my co-star and being a Broadway power couple so…"

"So you tried to make it work."

"I did make it work."

"You must be a good actor since all the articles love you as a couple."

"It helps we have excellent managers and publicists," she said with a shrug.

The conversation died down and Rachel tapped out a few notes on the piano.

"So can we go back to the part when you said you wanted to be with someone else?"

A grin spread across Rachel's face before she said, "What about that part?"

"Who'd you have in mind?"

"Tall, dark, and handsome. Knows his way around pool and poker tables. Throws a football well. Pleasant singer. Likes to run and eat and eat and eat some more. Know anyone like that?"

"Can't say that I do," Finn said while he grinned. "A few more clues would be good."

Rachel rolled her eyes and began to ticking off her fingers as she said, "Likes to annoy me. Terrible swimmer. Messy eater. Absent minded. Constantly covered in some sort of disgusting substance. Stubborn. Have I mentioned annoying yet?"

Finn laughed and said, "Yea, I think I might know someone like that."

"Well, let me know if you think of his name. I'd like to meet him."

"I'll do that. So." He turned to look at her and waited for her to look at him. "What do we do now?"

"I… I don't know. What do you want to do?"

"Well, first." He cupped her cheek with his right hand, leaned over, and kissed her. "We do that."

"Oh," she said with her eyes wide and a little out of breath. "That's a good start. Then what do we do?"

"Then, you let me take you out on a date or two." Finn took her hands into his. "Or three. And we see how much we can annoy each other."

Rachel grinned and said, "I'd really like that."

* * *

A/N 2: Don't get used to quick updates from now on. In fact, it's much more likely that I'll go back to updates once a month because I'm lazy and a terrible, terrible person.

Finn and Rachel sing "Xavia" by The Submarines. Rachel sings a slightly edited version of "Antebellum" by Vienna Teng. Both songs can be found on YouTube or the Waffles.

Edit: Can I just add, I hate how this site randomly removes certain bits of formatting.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Seems like I caused a bit of a kerfuffle when I said I'd be doing monthly updates. That isn't strictly true since I update whenever I finish the next chapter, but that seems to be how long it takes to write each update. And of course, this is now two updates in a row that have been done in under a month, so don't pay attention to me.

* * *

"Rachel, you know the point of bowling is to get the ball to hit the pins right?"

"I know."

"Just making sure, cause it seems like you think it's putting the ball into the gutter."

"It's not my fault we don't have space for bowling alleys in New York."

"You wanna try the lanes with the rubber cushions instead of gutters?"

"And the small balls?"

"And the small balls."

"Aren't those lanes for kids?"

"No," Finn said as he picked up his ball and walked towards the lane. "Anyone can use 'em."

"I think we'll stay here so I can beat you properly. I wouldn't want you to have some excuse as to why I beat you at yet another activity."

"Beat me?" Finn asked as he turned around. "I think I'm up by like 70 pins."

"There's no way you're up by that many pins," Rachel said before she hunched over to re-tally the scorecard.

With a crooked grin, Finn stared at her as she concentrating on adding up the pin totals. She glanced up then quickly looked back down when she saw him looking at her, causing his smile to spread, and almost immediately, she looked up again and smiled back at him. They smiled at each other for a few seconds with widening grins before she went back to her task.

"It looks like you're up around 90 pins," she said as she looked up.

"Told you," he said as he turned around.

Finn lined up his shot and bowled the ball straight at the pins, knocking down seven of the ten pins. His second ball knocked down one of the three remaining pins and he made his way back to the score table where Rachel was sitting.

"Looks like I'm almost a hundred up," he said as he looked over her shoulder. "You sure you don't want to switch lanes?"

"No, I'm going to come back and beat you."

"I don't think there are enough frames left for you to do that even if I throw gutter balls the rest of the game."

She looked at the scorecard again and tapped her lips with an index finger.

"Well, I'll just have to beat you next game then."

"In the other lane?"

Rachel looked back down at the scorecard, sighed, and then said, "Yes, in the other lane."

An hour and a half later found them walking down Main Street towards a destination that Rachel wasn't able to pry out of Finn. Not that she hadn't tried, but the harder she did the more he resisted, even though he said the destination wasn't that important. Annoyingly, he killed her curiosity by simply taking her hand in his which made her much happier than she ought to have been but even that annoyance vanished seconds after he took her hand.

"This means I'm up two to one over you right?"

"Hmm?"

"I beat you at pool and bowling. You won the poker game so two to one."

"Right," she said as she nuzzled up against him.

"Plus, I did save your life basically so that has to count for at least two or three. Maybe even five."

Rachel rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the ribs. "While I do appreciate you playing the knight in shining armor to my damsel in distress that shouldn't count towards our running score."

"Our running score?"

"Yes, the running score we have which I will keep because I will come out on top."

"Huh. Okay then."

They stopped in front of a mom and pop ice cream shop where Finn held the door open for Rachel.

"Ice cream? You know that has—"

"I know. They have sorbet too."

"Oh. That works."

"I know it's not fancy or anything but their stuff is awesome and—"

"It's perfect."

* * *

"Are you sure you want to do this Rachel?"

"Yes."

"You don't think it's too soon?"

"No, it's fine. Just put it in."

"Okay, but it gets kinda disgusting."

"I'll be fine. Just hurry up."

"Not even a week yet and you're already a slave driver. Can't wait to see what you're like in the future."

With that being said, Finn picked out a DVD from the shoebox he kept under his old bed, put it in the DVD player under the TV, and took a seat next to Rachel on the couch.

"I don't even know why you'd want to see this," Finn said.

"Because I want to know everything about you and this was an extremely important event in your life."

"Oh."

"Finn," she said as she took his hand. "When was the last time you saw this?"

"Dunno. It's been awhile."

"We can stop at any time if it becomes too difficult for you."

Finn grunted in response as he hit play on the remote, causing the TV to flare to life with the images of the last football game in his career. The last time he had seen this game was a few months after it had happened and his shrink was trying to help him come to terms with the fact that his life was going to be completely different. His entire life before the injury revolved around football. What he ate, when he woke up, who he hung out with, where he lived; all of these things, and more, were dictated by the simple fact that he played football for a major Division One college and, more likely than not, it would be his job for the next ten years after college.

That other life was something Finn tried not to think about in his day to day life, but as he watched the game, he couldn't help thinking about where he would be or what he would be doing right now if his leg had healed properly. As he glanced down at his hand being held by Rachel's then up at her face, he figured that this new path wasn't all bad. It amused him to see her concentrating so hard on the game in front of her, considering the facts that she demanded to watch the entire game and had no idea what was going on in the game.

"Is my face that much more interesting than the game?"

"You know," he said as he poked her in the temple. "I was actually in the game we're watching right now so I don't really need to watch it."

"So you keep telling me."

"Plus, you look a lot better than watching 22 sweaty men trying to kill each other."

"That's not much of a compliment you know."

"I know."

Rachel gasped before whipping her head back towards the TV causing Finn to laugh and throw his arm around her shoulders and pulling her towards him. After a few half-hearted attempts to resist, she eventually snuggled into him and settled into his side.

"Which one are you again?"

"Number five in red."

"You're very good at it."

"Was. I was good at it."

"I've seen you at practice. You still are."

"If I was really good at it, I'd still be playing." Finn pointed at the TV. "I couldn't do that now."

"You threw the ball pretty far when I was at practice last week."

"That was a simple lob. You can't really compare that to flinging the ball 60 yards down the field, so far my wide-out couldn't even run under it."

Finn glanced at Rachel and found her staring blankly at him.

"Didn't understand a word I said did you?"

"No, not really."

His laughs drew a glare and an elbow in the ribs from her.

"Okay, okay," he said as he grabbed her elbow. "You understood every word."

Finn watched as Michigan quickly went three and out and punted the ball back to Ohio State. He saw himself hand the ball off to his running back who easily gained 14 yards and then turn towards the sideline. With each passing moment and without noticing, he sat straighter and straighter and gripped Rachel's elbow harder and harder.

"Finn. Finn. You're hurting me."

"What?" He looked down and saw her trying to peel his hand away from her elbow. "Oh God. Sorry, sorry."

"We don't have to do this," she said as she tucked her arm underneath his and held his hand.

"No, it's fine." He squeezed her hand at the look of disbelief on her face. "I'm fine."

Looking as though she still didn't believe him, she slowly turned her head forward to watch the TV which was now showing Finn settling behind his center, getting ready for the snap. Their conversation stopped and, as their breathing slowed, the only sounds in the room came from the TV. The play started and Finn gripped Rachel's hand tighter and tighter and in turn she sandwiched his hand with her other hand.

The hitch in his breathing seconds into the play was Rachel's biggest clue as to what was coming and how soon it would be there, but it wasn't much of a notice. The play was over in less than eight seconds and Finn forgot how much the end result looked just like three previous plays when he was sacked. The only differences were the Michigan player waving frantically at the OSU sidelines for help and the silence that fell over the crowd in the stadium. That silence made its presence felt in the living room even though the event in question was years past and both persons in the room knew what the eventual outcome would be.

"You might want to turn away from the replays," Finn said as the TV showed images of scared looking fans.

"It didn't look too bad."

"You still probably want to look away."

"No, I want to see."

"Don't say that I didn't warn you."

This was pretty much what the announcers were telling their audience before the replays started, except they used words like "gruesome" and "grisly."

Modern television production of a major sporting event is an amazing thing with dozens and dozens of people involved, all with the express purpose of providing a good show for the viewers at home. The most important thing, obviously, are the visuals which meant about a dozen high-definition cameras were used at that game and the production crew decided to show any and all of the video that showed even a glimpse of what had happened. This included multiple close-up angles of Finn's leg being bent in a way that no human leg was ever meant to be bent. Thankfully, the director cut away from the video before the bloody aftermath could be seen. Not that it helped Rachel any, as she buried her face into Finn's side halfway through the first replay.

"Turn it off. Turn it off," Finn heard Rachel's muffled voice say.

When he did, she pulled away from him, looked up, and said, "Did it hurt?"

"No, not when it happened." He let out a sad chuckle. "Funny thing is that it only started to hurt when I got to the hospital but, man, morphine is a hell of a drug."

"I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize."

"I know, but I feel terrible that it happened to you."

"Oh…" He looked down as she began tracing the lines on his palm. "Thanks."

"You know," she said after a few seconds of tracing his palm. "This conversation seems very familiar."

"Yea, it kinda does."

"What else is in that shoebox of yours?" she asked after a few more seconds.

"Uh, some videos of our performances."

"Our?"

"Oh, my old show choir from high school. Mom liked to record the performances and I transferred them to DVD one summer."

"Can I see them?"

Finn shrugged. "If you want to."

"Can I see it?" Rachel asked after a few moments.

"Sure," Finn said as he stood up. "Should I just pick a random one?"

"No, not the performances." She glanced down. "Your leg."

"Oh… uh…"

"There's nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about."

"I'm not ashamed or embarrassed. It's just…" He rubbed his face and turned around. "Plus, you already saw it at Quinn's party."

"I just want to see it again."

He stared at her staring at him and when he figured she wouldn't back down he said, "Fine."

"Lie down and put your legs in my lap."

After he did that, she gingerly placed a hand on his leg.

"You don't need to be so careful, it's not like my leg is gonna fall off."

She responded with a glare before she rolled up the left side of his sweatpants, revealing his scarred leg. With more time and less anger than she had at the pool, she was able to get a much better look at his leg. Like before, the scars on his leg were there but they weren't grotesque or horrifying or even that noticeable, just half a dozen pinkish lines running up and down his leg and converging on the two scars where the bones had broken through the skin.

Her index finger traced over each scar and she marveled at the surgeon who had to have been very skilled since the scars were barely there. Some of that was due to the passage of time but the clean lines that remained had to be some indication of technique. Switching from her index finger to an entire palm, she barely ran it over his leg, just grazing the hairs growing there. She grinned as she felt his leg tremble in her lap and saw goose bumps form.

"Sensitive?"

"No. Just feels nice."

She brought her other hand up and began running both hands up and down his leg, enjoying the feel of the goose bumps disappearing under her hands.

"Does it ever hurt?"

"No, but it gets sore sometimes after I have nightmares."

Her hands switched from running across his leg to massaging it.

"Do you have them often?"

"I have no idea. I mean, they probably wake me up once or twice a month but my leg gets sore a few more times than that and mom says there are times when I don't wake up so…"

They spent the next few minutes in the same positions until Finn said, "Done playing around with my leg yet?"

"No, but I'll let you have it back anyway," she said as she pushed away his leg.

"Thanks," he said as she swung into a seated position. "Now what?"

"Show me a video of your performances?"

He grinned then got up and swapped DVDs in the player before sitting back down next to her.

"Gotta warn you, we weren't that great."

"I'll be the judge of that."

The grainy video began to play and every so often it moved up and down.

"Sorry about the quality. Mom got a bit excited for the performances."

But Rachel didn't respond since she was too engrossed in watching the performance which hadn't really improved with age in Finn's opinion. In fact, he was pretty sure New Directions was a lot worse than he remembered. Probably why they never got past Regionals the only time they made it there. Now that he thought about it, it was what they were watching was that Regionals performance.

"You guys weren't that bad."

"Yea we were."

"That short Asian girl has a very good voice."

"Man, I don't remember her name," Finn said as he scratched his head. "She was a transfer student, only at our school for a year. And yea, she was pretty good."

"You're not half bad either and your harmonization with that transfer student is not bad. You just…"

"Lacked chemistry?"

"Yes. Your lack of chemistry is definitely hindering this attempt at a power ballad."

They watched the rest of the performances with Rachel making comments, mostly about the quality of the songs and singing, as they popped into her head and those comments were always spot on.

"You guys were good," Rachel said as the video ended. "You should've placed first."

"You don't need to sugarcoat it. We deserved to be third."

"Okay, yes. You deserved your third place finish. Your high notes were tinny and your bass was off key multiple times. The backing vocals could have been tighter and—"

"Jeez, you don't have to tear us apart either. It's not like we can do anything about it now."

"I— You're right. It's just that I—"

"You're insane?"

Rachel whipped her head around and glared at him. "Just because I'm a perfectionist when it comes to work does not mean I am insane."

"Half insane?"

"Not insane."

"Okay, just crazy."

Rachel replied by rolling her eyes and flinging her old monkey at his face. Finn picked up the monkey from his lap and looked at it.

"Already want to return the things I gave you?"

"No," she said as she scooted closer. "That's the one I brought with me."

"Looks kinda like the one I gave you," Finn said as he spun the monkey around. "Doesn't it?"

"He's exactly the same, except the colors are swapped."

"Huh." He sat the monkey down on his leg and poked at him. "You know, I used to have tons of stuffed animals when I was a kid. I think I might have even had one like this guy. Probably still in a box somewhere if I know my mom."

"I know you used to have a lot of them."

"You do?"

"I do," she said. "Do you know how I got this monkey?"

"No. Why would I?"

"Did you know I was here for your dad's funeral?"

"Are you going to stop answering my questions with questions?" She smacked him on the arm. "Yes, I knew you were there. Mom told me about it the day you got here."

"So you don't actually remember me being there?"

"Nope."

"Well, when I was there, I met this nice young boy who cheered me up when I was really upset."

"Okay…?"

"Do you know how he cheered me up?"

"No idea."

"He gave me that monkey and said I could keep him for as long as I needed him." Rachel picked up the monkey. "This guy was my best friend… my only friend for the longest time. He followed me everywhere and I told him all of my secrets and he was always there for me."

"Huh…"

"You have no idea who that boy was, do you?"

"No idea."

"You know, you can be really dense sometimes."

"Yea. Mom, Quinn, Puck, Santana, and pretty much everyone else keep telling me that."

"It was you! You gave me the monkey!"

"I did?"

"You did."

"I never did get to thank you properly since I had to leave soon after you gave him to me. So, thank you."

"You're just full of kindness today."

"I know." She crawled onto his lap. "You're lucky to have me."

"I know I am," he said right before he kissed her.

* * *

The moan coming out of Rachel was low and guttural and music to Finn's ears which was why he was a tiny bit sorry that he silenced it with his mouth. What he wasn't sorry about were his hands on her legs that were straddling his hips as he sat on the couch. Her moans only grew deeper as he ran his hands up and down her sides under her shirt and the vibrations from her mouth sent shivers down his spine. The gyrations of her hips sent similar sensations to a different part of his body causing him to return a set of his own moans.

A towel smacked them on the side of their heads.

"Hey assholes," Puck said. "If you two are gonna bang on my couch at least put a towel underneath your asses."

Rachel pulled away and said, "Afraid we're gonna break in your couch for you?"

"Babe," Puck said. "Puckzilla broke that in the night he got it."

Rachel looked down at the couch and gave it a look of disgust then groaned before resting her forehead on Finn's chin.

"I think it's time to go home," Finn said.

"Fuck yea. You two need to go use that soundproof basement you have. What I wouldn't give for that shit." Puck waggled his eyebrows. "My neighbors are always complaining about the noise my women make."

Rachel gave the couch a look of disgust again and said, "Yes, I believe it is time to go home." She glanced back at Noah. "Thanks for ruining the mood."

"That's why I don't date," Puck said to Finn. "You gotta deal with shit like moods and crap."

"Yes," Rachel said as she stood up and walked to the door. "I'm sure that's exactly why you don't date or have a girlfriend. Come on Finn, let's go."

"Thanks man," Finn said as he stood up. "Great wingman."

"Excuse me?" Rachel asked as she spun around. "What do you mean by that?"

"Uh, nothing? I was talking to Puck?"

"I know you were," Rachel said with a glare. "I also know what the term wingman means."

"But—"

"I don't know what you were expecting tonight—"

"Nothing. I wasn't expecting anything."

"I'll have you know I am not some co-ed groupie who will just throw myself at you," she said as she poked him in the chest.

"I never said you were," Finn said as he took a step back. "I was just joking around with Puck cause we're guys and that's, like, what we do. I mean, I know you're not—" He stopped talking as she saw the hint of a grin on her face.

"Got you."

Finn groaned then said, "Yes. Yes, you did."

"Come on Finn, let's go home," she said as she walked out of the apartment.

"Dude, you are so whipped."

"Fuck you."

* * *

Eighteen vegan and vegetarian courses, four glasses of wine, three dessert courses, and almost four hours later and they finally reached the last course of their meal.

"I don't think I can eat another bite," Rachel said as she placed her fork on her plate which was almost immediately bussed away, along with every other utensil, plate, and glass on the table.

"I think you will when you see the last course."

"I have never eaten this much." Rachel groaned. "Thanksgivings are nothing compared to this."

"You've never eaten at the best places in New York? They do meals like this."

"Do they let you sit in the kitchen too?" Rachel asked as she looked around for the umpteenth time during the meal, still amazed that there was actually a table inside the busy kitchen.

"I'm sure some places have a chef's table."

"How'd you find out about this place?"

"Someone brought the team here to eat during my freshman year. Probably broke a dozen NCAA rules but it was the best meal I've ever had." He looked at her and smiled. "Well, second best now."

"Oh," Rachel said as she brought her elbows up so a waiter could roll out a rubber mat on the table. "How often do you come here?"

"About a dozen times a year."

Their conversation paused as waiters brought back their glasses of water and wine, as well as clean spoons.

"Thank you for bringing me here."

"No problem." He stopped while waiters brought over half a dozen dishes filled with unknown things and lined them up along the side of the table. "I figured that after a month in Lima you'd be glad to wander around bigger city for a day."

"It has been a wonderful day. Although I don't know why you wouldn't let me buy that pair of Louboutins I saw. Or that dress. Or the blouse. Or those earrings. Or that—"

"I think you're answering your own question just fine."

Rachel glared at him until a man in chef's whites walked up to the table and interrupted them.

"Finn, how you doing tonight?"

"Chef, great meal as usual."

"Thanks. Always glad to have you eat at my table." He glanced towards Rachel. "And I'm glad that you've finally brought a young lady with you. I mean it's nice to see your mom and dad every month or so but it's about time."

Finn chuckled. "I figured it was time to bring someone new around."

The chef turned towards Rachel and said, "I'm not kidding. You're the first person that Finn's brought here other than his parents and brother."

"Is this true?"

Finn shrugged. "Like I said, it was time to bring someone new, so don't think you're special or anything."

Rachel grinned. "I don't need to think I am. I know I am."

The chef laughed. "I like her."

"Don't you have cooking to do?" Finn asked after he groaned.

"Of course not. That's what my sous chefs are for and you guys are the last table, so I have nothing better to do than to chat with my favorite customer." He picked up a bowl billowing with white smoke from the table. "Plus, I have something special for your last course. It's called Chocolate."

"Just chocolate?"

"Just chocolate," the chef said as he pulled out four brown balls, two lighter than the others, from the bowl. "Dark and milk chocolate frozen with liquid nitrogen." He crushed them in his hand and spread out the crumbs in a crescent shape on the rubber mat. "White chocolate. Sorry it's not vegan but you said vegetarian was acceptable." Another bowl was picked up and, with a spoon, he ladled out a thick white substance in random shapes and areas on the mat. "Menthol." Eight popcorn-like balls were placed on the mat. "Hyssop." Tiny amounts of the ground up herb were placed randomly on the mat. "Finally, more chocolate. Milk, dark, and unsweetened," he said as he used the final four bowls, each containing a different type of chocolate, prepared in a unique way.

When he was done about two thirds of the mat was covered and the two diners stared slack-jawed at the amount of food that was there.

"That is a lot of food," Rachel said.

"What she said."

The chef laughed. "That's alright. We tested out the dish with the right proportions for two and felt that it didn't look impressive enough, so what you're seeing is for about six people."

"There is no possible way we can eat all of that," Rachel said.

"We don't expect you to," the chef said. "Just wanted to give you a good show. Anyway, Chocolate with menthol and hyssop. Enjoy."

Their eyes followed the chef as he walked back to the kitchen then looked down at their table before looking at each other. Smiles appeared on their faces as they picked up their spoons and Finn gestured for her to go first.

"I almost don't want to eat it, it's so beautiful," Rachel said as she looked down. "It's like a something you'd find in MoMA."

"MoMA?"

"Museum of Modern Art."

"Oh." Finn dragged his spoon through the dessert before bringing a spoonful of it up to his mouth. "I never liked modern art that much."

"This. Is. Delicious," Rachel said after she had a bite. "But I really can't eat anymore."

"That's funny since I see you still eating."

"I know. I know." She took another bite. "But it's too good."

"I think I'm gonna be able to roll you home if you keep eating."

Rachel glared at him as she put down her spoon.

"Also you need to save some room for the petit fours."

"There's more?"

"Just some small pastries and chocolates to eat with your coffee or tea," Finn said as he played around with bits of the food.

"Please tell me you're kidding."

"Nope. They even give you something to take home."

Rachel groaned and slumped down in her chair. "I give up."

"Quitter."

"Don't think that just because you've plied me with good food and wine means you can call me names," she said as she pointed a finger at him. "In fact," she said as she gestured around her. "What were you trying to do by bringing me here? Impress me?"

"Well, Lima's not exactly known for its stellar cuisine and I wanted to bring you somewhere nice and since we were gonna be in Columbus anyway… I mean if I knew you were gonna be happy with something simper I would've taken you to Chipotle or something."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "I never said that. I just wanted you to know that you don't have to try and impress me with fancy food."

"Thanks for telling me, but I wanted to bring you here."

"Then, thank you for bringing me."

"So, what _can_ I do to you after I've plied you with good food and wine?"

Her cheeks flushed and she quickly looked down.

"With what I've read, never thought you'd be so shy."

Still looking down, she softly said, "It's different when you're with someone you really like."

Finn played around with some more of the dessert before he said, "You never liked the people you've dated?"

"No, not really."

"Why'd you date so many guys then?"

She looked up and then picked up her spoon, joining Finn in playing with the remains of the dessert.

"It seemed like the thing to do."

"Why date guys you didn't like?"

Rachel shrugged. "I could've learned to like one of them."

"Doesn't sound like you did and if you—"

"Is this something you really want to talk about?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you really want to talk about the men I've dated and how many times I've been in the gossip rags?"

"Don't see why not," Finn said as he shrugged.

"You really want to talk about who I've been with and what I've done with them and where I did those things?" Rachel said with an arched eyebrow.

"Uh," Finn said. "On second thought…"

"Thought so," she said with a grin that quickly fell off her face when she saw that Finn was looking down and intently stabbing the same bits of chocolate over and over again.

"Finn?"

"Yea?"

"Finn."

He looked up. "Yes?"

"About those guys I dated."

"Thought we weren't talking about them?"

"I never did anything with them."

"What'd you mean?"

"I mean, aside from some kissing, I never did anything with them." She took a sip of water. "It's one of the reasons I dated so many guys."

"Oh… what about Jesse?"

Rachel sighed. "He was the only one I did anything with."

"The only one?"

"Yes, my first and only."

"Your first?"

"Yes, my first."

"Then why'd you date all those guys?"

"Jesse and I are constantly breaking up and getting back together so I have plenty of time to date other people."

"Am I just some other person?"

"No!" She glanced around, checking to see if people were looking in their direction. "No, this is different. Jesse and I are finished."

"You are?"

"We are." She put her spoon down again. "I want to be with you."

* * *

The blood curdling scream coming from right next to her ear woke Rachel up. She flailed about for a few seconds not knowing where she was until realized she was in the basement. More specifically, she was sitting on the sofa in the basement with Finn sleeping uneasily beside her. They'd been watching a romantic comedy that she had roped him into renting from Netflix down in the basement and, considering the main menu on the TV, they must have fallen asleep during the middle of it.

If she was looking for any more evidence as to how awful Finn's nightmares were then the screaming and flinching body beside her was all the proof she needed. There was a sheen of sweat of his forehead as he continued to yell and twitch beside her. She sat up and pulled his head into her lap and tried to calm him down by running a hand through his hair but that had no effect.

Her sleep fogged mind struggled for other options to help calm him down and it fell back on doing what she did best. She began humming the simple melody to "Hush, Little Baby" which helped somewhat but as she finished the lullaby he began to moan and twitch again. Her mind flailed about again, trying to think of something else to sing. If she had time to reflect upon the moment, she would've found it ironic that she could knew the most iconic songs to ever be sung yet she couldn't remember a single one at that second.

So, she began humming what amounted to be long random notes and, as she continued to hum, the notes began to connect and form a melody. As more and more of her notes added to the melody, she finally recognized what the song was and, since Finn had begun to calm down again, she switched to singing the lyrics.

Lay down  
Your sweet and weary head  
Night is falling  
You have come to journey's end  
Sleep now  
And dream of the ones who came before  
They are calling  
From across the distant shore

Why do you weep?  
What are these tears upon your face?  
Soon you will see  
All of your fears will pass away  
Safe in my arms  
You're only sleeping

What can you see  
On the horizon  
Why do the white gulls call  
Across the sea  
A pale moon rises  
The ships have come to carry you home

And all will turn  
To silver glass  
A light on the water  
All souls pass

Hope fades  
Into the world of night  
Through shadows falling  
Out of memory and time  
Don't say  
We have come now to the end  
White shores are calling  
You and I will meet again

And you'll be here in my arms  
Just sleeping

What can you see  
On the horizon  
Why do the white gulls call  
Across the sea  
A pale moon rises  
The ships have come to carry you home

And all will turn  
To silver glass  
A light on the water  
Grey ships pass  
Into the west…

As Rachel finished the song, she saw that Finn had calmed down considerably from when she first saw him. After waiting for a bit, it didn't seem like he would go back to his previous state and Rachel finally relaxed. With nothing left to do, she continued to caress his forehead as she settled back into the sofa, trying to get comfortable enough to fall asleep again.

Two thoughts popped into her head as she nodded off. One, she was going to have a sore neck from this awful sleeping position in the morning and two, Finn had better damn well appreciate her for what she just did.

* * *

A/N 2: Rachel sings "Into the West" by Annie Lennox at the end. And here I thought that this would be a short chapter.

Even though I might not have used their specific suggestions, I need to thank CarmenMauri and mida212 and her friends for giving my brain a jumpstart for this chapter because I had nothing before their help.

I might, _might_, have another update ready before Christmas. Don't get your hopes up or anything though. Also, Moonlighting curse ftw.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: You know the drill. Thanks for reading and reviewing. Now on with the story.

* * *

Looking back at the past week as she lounged in a chair next to Quinn's pool, Rachel figured that it was one of the best she'd ever had. It was right up there with winning the lead in her high school musical, the Broadway premiere of _Spring Awakening_, and winning a Tony Award. Okay, maybe it wasn't quite as amazing as winning her Tony, but it was really, really good. Needless to say, things between her and Finn were going quite well. Well, aside from the kink in her neck from spending last night sleeping sitting straight up on the couch.

Watching Brittany goof off in and around the pool, dragging Santana along with her, provided plenty of entertainment for Rachel while she waited for Finn to be finished with football practice. And having Noah and Sam provide her with an endless stream of drinks while she sat around doing absolutely nothing was a bonus. The worst part of the afternoon was the fact that Sam and Noah couldn't cook anything properly on the grill leading to a constant stream of insults from Santana when she wasn't busy with Brittany and a growling stomach for everyone at the pool.

A pair of calloused hands covered Rachel's eyes.

"Guess who?"

"With those rough hands," Rachel said as she rolled her eyes underneath those hands. "It has to be some Neanderthal."

Finn's laughs came from behind her as the hands were removed, only to be replaced with his face as he leaned over to kiss her.

He pulled back after the kiss and sniffed a few times. "What's burning?"

"Noah and Sam are attempting to cook lunch," she said as she glanced over at the grill. "Needless to say, they haven't done too well."

"Yea, I wouldn't want to be them right now."

Rachel looked towards the grill again and saw that Santana was yelling at the pair for screwing up her burger again. Things only quieted down when Quinn pulled the Latina away, pointed over at Finn and Rachel, and said something to her. From the frown on her face, whatever was said didn't make Santana too happy but Quinn crossed her arms, rolled her eyes, and said something else to her. This made Santana stare at Finn and Rachel again until she grinned and waved at them.

"Finn!" Santana yelled. "Come make us lunch!"

"Make it yourself!"

"I swear to God, if you don't get over here and grill me a burger right the hell now, I'll fuck up your other leg!"

"Is she always this mean?" Rachel asked while Santana continue to scream at Finn from across the pool.

"No, she's usually meaner than this when she's hungry," he said as he started walking towards the grill. "So I better go cook a burger for her before she kills all of us."

"She can't be that bad can she?"

"I don't feel like finding out. Be right back."

Her eyes followed him as he made his way around the pool with Santana coming up to him as he approached to yell at him some more. Santana continued to yap at Finn even as he shook his head at her antics and started to grill.

"Mind if I sit down?" Quinn said as she walked up.

Rachel shrugged and said, "It's your house."

"Wonderful," Quinn said before she pulled over a patio chair to sit next to Rachel.

The two women lazily sipped on their drinks side by side as they watched Santana devour a burger then demand another one.

"Santana gets really hungry…"

"Yea," Quinn said. "Being mean and cruel has always made her hungry."

"So I hear that you're leaving soon?"

"Yes," Quinn said as she rolled her eyes. "Apparently my dad decided that it would be great if we went on a family vacation before I went back to school."

"That sounds nice."

"Because we really need to be somewhere else to not talk to each other." Quinn turned her head to look at Rachel. "More importantly, how are things going between you and Finn?"

"Things are going fine." She looked at Quinn and smiled. "Great actually."

"Finn's a good guy. I'm happy for you two."

"Thank you, and he is." Quinn grinned and looked towards the grill again. "For the most part."

"Yes, for the most part," Rachel said after she laughed. "But then, every relationship has its own unique problems."

"Speaking of problems, I want to talk to you about one."

"I— Okay, but I'm not exactly sure how much I'd be able to help."

"Amazing, this might be the first time you don't think it's about it you when it is."

"What'd you mean?"

"Rachel, you have a problem. A large problem."

"What exactly would that problem be?" Rachel asked a completely disinterested looking Quinn.

"You really don't know what your big problem is?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Let's see if I can help you find your way," Quinn said after she sighed. "What are you doing here in Lima?"

"I'm here on vacation."

"And why exactly are you here on vacation?"

"I— uh… I'm here—"

"Okay, stop it. I know why you're here Ms. Broadway Diva."

"You know who I am? Finn said he wouldn't tell anyone else."

Quinn lifted her sunglasses and glanced at Rachel for a second. "He didn't have to tell me. After you pulled that little stunt at the first time you were here, I Googled you and I learned all sorts of fun facts about you."

"You Googled me?"

"Don't sound so surprised. I may have been born and raised in this Podunk town but I still know how to use Google."

"You… knew about me this entire time?"

"I did."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"What's the point? You didn't do anything too stupid after that and it seemed like a good piece of information to have if you stepped out of line again, so why bother?"

"Oh…"

"Do you see your problem yet?"

"No."

Quinn sighed. "For someone so talented and ambitious, you can be pretty stupid."

Rachel gasped.

"Oh, don't get your panties all twisted. How long—"

"Hey, how's the party going?" Mike asked as he walked up to them.

"Party's going fine," Quinn said. "Finn is grilling up food by the drinks if you want some."

"Trying to get rid of me that fast?"

"Yes."

"Ouch," Mike said as he feigned an injury to his chest.

"Unless you want to stay here and talk about the female body." She grinned up at him. "You know… tampons, periods, birth control and things like that."

"You know what?" Mike said as he winced then started to walk away. "I'm gonna go see what Finn and Puck are up to. Talk to you guys later."

"Now," Quinn said. "Where were we?"

"You were about to ask—"

"That's right. Exactly how long have you been away from your show?"

"About a month."

"This is the longest time you've been off the stage in your professional life isn't it?"

"It is."

"Getting restless yet?"

Rachel pursed her lips as she considered the question. "A bit."

"Yes, I could tell from the way you threw yourself into karaoke night."

"See your problem yet?"

"No, not really."

"You two are an oblivious match made in heaven."

"Are you going to tell me, or are we just going to dance around this problem all afternoon?"

Quinn glanced at Rachel again and grinned. "There's that confident and assertive young woman I read about. Now, what happens when this little vacation of yours is finished? Because your theatre company can't be too happy about not having their star on stage."

"I go back to New York and resume my run on Broadway obviously."

"Obviously. Someone with your drive and ambition can't sit around doing nothing for this long."

Rachel nodded even though she knew Quinn might not be able to see her.

"And what about Finn?"

"What about Finn?"

"What happens to Finn when you go back to New York?"

"He'll come with me obviously."

"Is that what you really think? Have you talked to him about this?"

"I haven't talked to him about this, but I don't see why he wouldn't want to come with me. He's smart and talented enough to make it in New York."

Quinn turned her head toward Rachel for the third time in their conversation and arched an eyebrow. "You've known each other for a month and you expect him to move in with you?"

"I— Well, when you put it that way…"

"Look, from what I can see, you two are good, possibly great, for each other and Finn's the happiest I've seen him in a long, long time."

"Then what's the problem?"

"Finn has a hard time believing in people, so he's not going to uproot his life for some girl he met a month ago, no matter how much you make him happy now."

"Now why would he have a hard time believing in people?"

"I know I probably played a part in that," Quinn said as she glared at Rachel. "But that doesn't change the fact that he does. It doesn't matter how much he's told you about his life or how much he learns about yours, you do realize that you basically have been lying to him since they day you met him right?"

"I— I wouldn't call it lying." Rachel glanced down for a moment. "More like hiding the truth from him. Plus I hid it from everyone else as well."

"I'm sure he thought about that when he got angry at you. And yes, I pried that information out of Kurt during the week."

"I'm not sure if you realized, but we did work things out between the two of us."

"That may be the case, but if I know Finn he has no idea what your plans are and you spring this move without talking to him, you'll devastate him."

"Don't you think you're being overdramatic?"

"That's funny coming from you."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "While I realize the irony of my statement, I do think you are overstating things."

"You may find this hard to believe, I've known Finn for much longer than you so I have a better idea of how he'll react to things."

"That may be the case and I do appreciate the advice, but I think we'll make it through this just fine."

"Rachel, Finn isn't some understudy or production assistant you can browbeat into being your personal bitch. If you two are doing to make it work, you need to talk to him."

The conversation died as Rachel lowered her head and thought this over until she said, "I know. I know. I just… I just don't know what to say."

"And that, Rachel," Quinn said as she looked over at Rachel with those soul piercing eyes of hers. "Is your problem."

* * *

There was nothing Rachel hated more than not knowing what to do and she had absolutely no idea how to tell Finn about her return to New York. Normally she would charge straight ahead if she couldn't come up with a better plan but didn't dare do that here because, more importantly, she had no clue as to how Finn would react when he found out. The one saving grace to this problem was the fact that there was plenty of time for her to explain things to Finn. Seeing as though Jessica and her fathers had left her here for a month without much contact, they wouldn't let her come back to New York without some sort of healthy warning.

At least that's what Rachel hoped for as she sat next to Finn in the basement watching him do something or another on his laptops. Aside from the fact that the conversation with Quinn made her mind churn as it tried to solve this problem, it also angered her because it was something she should have thought of. She'd become too complacent during her time here. And complacent was one thing Rachel Berry was not.

Three months ago, if she saw herself doing what she was doing now here and now, she wouldn't have recognized who she had become and would have slapped herself for losing sight of the things she desired: another Tony Award or two, TV and movie roles, maybe even an Oscar nomination. It wasn't as if she no longer wanted to those things. It's just that ever since she arrived in Lima, all she could think of was her little relationship, confrontational or romantic or otherwise, with Finn. That conversation was the equivalent of a slap to her face. It was exactly what she needed. Sadly, what she needed now was something completely different.

"You've been quiet," she heard Finn say.

"Hmm?"

"You've been quiet ever since we left Quinn's."

"I have?"

"You have and you being quiet usually means something is up." He looked away from whatever he was doing, towards Rachel. "So what's up?"

She really wanted to tell Finn but without any semblance of a plan there was no way she could, so she said, "Nothing is up. There are times when I just don't have anything to say."

"Uh huh…," Finn said in a tone that hinted he didn't believe her.

"So what are you doing on your laptops?" she asked, trying to change the topic.

Finn narrowed his eyes for a fraction of a second before he said, "Playing poker. I usually play for a few hours before I go to bed but… well, you know."

Rachel laughed then grinned. "I'm sorry if I've been distracting you from this important work."

"Hey, what I'm doing is important."

"Uh huh…", she said, repeating Finn's unbelieving tone from seconds ago. "I can see why playing a silly card game with fake money is extremely important."

"Um… the money's not fake."

"But you just bet five hundred dollars in that game."

"Yup."

"You have close to five thousand in one game and almost ten in the other!"

"That's right."

"That's all real money?"

"Sure is."

"How can you have that much?"

"What can I say?" Finn said as he shrugged. "Mike wasn't lying. I'm pretty good at poker."

"And that's all yours?"

"All that and more."

"More?"

"Yea, I have about thirty thousand in one account and a little over forty in the other."

"How long did it take you to get that much?"

"Um, dunno. I just took out some to help cover Kurt's tuition so the accounts are a little low, but I guess I usually average a few thousand a month."

Rachel sat there dumbfounded, not quite able to process what she had just heard, so she watched him play poker for a few minutes and marveled at how easily and confidently he made his decisions. She wondered why she was Finn so much more carefree and confident on the football field and here playing poker compared to the rest of the time she saw him.

"Finn, why are you here?"

"Um, this is my bedroom?"

"No," she said as she playfully shoved him. "Why are you here in Lima?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You could be somewhere else doing so much more than what you're doing right now."

"Burt needs me at the shop to help pay for Kurt's tuition."

"With your poker earnings, you could help out from anywhere."

"Every little bit helps," Finn said as he shrugged.

"Is it because you feel guilt about Kurt being bullied in high school?"

"But don't you want to be something besides a mechanic?"

Finn exhaled loudly then said, "Of course I do, but there's still time for me to do something else after Kurt's finished with school." He started to turn back towards his laptops then stopped. "Wait, why are we even talking about this?"

"I was thinking about things."

"What things would those be?" Finn asked after Rachel sat there silent for two minutes.

"Little things. Silly things. Unimportant things," she said, hoping that Finn wouldn't press her on this because she had always found it hard to not speak her mind and there was a creeping feeling in her mind that she was approaching the point where saying no to him would be extremely difficult.

Happily for Rachel, he said, "Well, if you ever do want to tell me…"

"I know where to find you."

A little bit later, Finn was making himself a snack in the kitchen while Rachel was taking another one of her long baths upstairs. He piled on half a dozen slices of ham and turkey joining the lettuce and tomato that was already there between two slices of bread. Pouring a glass of orange juice completed his snack preparations and he made his way to the dining room eager to eat his food.

"Didn't get enough dinner?" he heard his mom ask right after he took a huge bite of his sandwich.

There was a long pause while he chewed and swallowed that bite of food.

"Dunno, ever since we started doing the vegan thing since Rachel got here I've been getting hungry more often." He took a drink of juice. "I guess I miss meat."

Carole looked down at his sandwich and laughed.

While he continued to eat his snack, his mom sat down in the seat opposite to him, apparently just to watch him eat. Not that he minded since it was his mom, so he devoured his sandwich and juice as he usually would.

"How's Rachel doing?" she asked after he let out a burp when his snack was finished.

Finn and Rachel hadn't exactly told anyone that they had started going out so he was pretty sure that his mom didn't know about them, but it's not like they were trying to hide things so he was also pretty sure that his mom would've seen something. Not that his mom ever needed to see anything to know what was going on in his life, probably came with the fact that she was his mom. Still, he didn't want to tell her yet because he wanted to keep this between him and Rachel because it felt nice to have this private thing between them while she was here, even when the rest of her life was out in public.

"Pretty good I guess."

"Wasn't so mean and bossy after all was she?"

"No, you were right. She can be nice."

Carole smiled. "That's good. I hoped you two would get along."

Finn chuckled. "She didn't make it easy at first."

"Rachel's changed since she started staying with us, hasn't she?"

"Yea, she has." He drained the last bit of his juice. "She's gotten nicer but she was nice to begin with. I guess it's got something to do with how much she wants things to be perfect. It's kinda scary actually. I mean, I can sorta see why people would write about her all the time."

"Been reading up on her?"

"A little bit."

Carole laughed. "Oh honey, I can't believe it took you so long to figure out who she was."

"Hey, I never had a reason to think she was some big shot on Broadway.

"I'm glad Rachel is learning something while she's with us." Carole stood up. "And I'm happy that you're the one helping her."

Carole wished Finn a goodnight and left the dining room, leaving Finn alone with his thoughts which had begun to drift towards food once again. Well, his thoughts were about food when they weren't on the brunette taking a bath on the floor above him.

* * *

A morning run was the only part of his training program that Finn kept after his football career ended and even then he didn't run nearly as long or hard as he used to. It wasn't that he really liked to run, cutting the length of the run in half was proof of that, it's just that he needed to get some exercise and running around the neighborhood wasn't too boring. Plus, it was a nice way to remind himself that his leg wasn't completely ruined and it gave him something to do when his nightmares woke up him early in the morning, like they did today.

Of course, those thoughts weren't in Finn's mind as he ran. Other people might have used that time to think about things. Finn used the time to zone out while he ran and listened to his iPod which was why he paid absolutely no attention to the newcomer talking with his mom and Burt in the dining room when he returned from his run and headed to the basement for a shower.

"This is my son, Finn," he heard Carole say after he had poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Hi, Finn," the newcomer said as she smiled up at him, who Finn now realized was an attractive blonde woman in her late 30s, dressed as though she had stepped out of one of the Kurt's fashion magazines and lightly cupping a cup of coffee on the table. "I'm glad I finally got a chance to meet you."

"Um," Finn said as he glanced around the room before sliding into a chair. "Hi?"

"Sorry, I didn't introduce myself," the blonde woman said as she stood up and extended her right hand, causing the bracelets on her arm to jingle. "My name is Jessica Summers. I'm Rachel's agent-slash-manager."

"Oh." He shook her hand before they both sat down again. "That's cool."

"We were just talking with Jessica about Rachel's career," Carole said.

"What about it?" Finn asked while a nervous feeling sprung up in the pit of his stomach.

"Oh," Jessica said. "Pretty much everything. I've been working with Rachel since before her professional debut." She grinned. "So I know all her dirty little secrets."

"Which she has been sharing with us while we waited for Rachel to wake up," Carole said with her own grin.

"I couldn't do anything less with the hospitality you've shown me," Jessica said as she raised her coffee mug in a salute before smelling her drink, taking a sip, and smiling. "Especially when it's this early in the day."

That nervous feeling in Finn's stomach kept growing as Jessica side-stepped his question as to why she was here and instead spent the rest of the morning telling stories about Rachel's career, some of which he already knew from reading bits and pieces of stories about Rachel. The other stories were things that sounded personal but weren't really, mostly funny anecdotes from inside the Broadway world. Finn was pretty sure she was stalling for time because she was hiding something.

The funny thing was, Finn used to be pretty terrible at spotting liars or people who were hiding something from him. Santana used to joke all the time that Quinn could cheat on him all she wanted and he'd never know a thing. Quinn would always roll her eyes at the old joke, saying that she'd never cheat on Finn and he believed her, but it was only natural that doubts crept into his mind sometimes.

Playing tons of poker in college had changed things though since you couldn't do too well unless you could spot who was lying at the table. He'd gotten so good at it; the guys on the football team wouldn't really play with him anymore so he had to find underground games around town where he found out that he needed to learn poker theory to go along with his previously learned skills to have any sort of chance at beating the good players.

As Jessica told a story about one of her other clients, Finn eventually noticed that she kept casually checking her watch at random intervals. Once he saw it, he realized easily she was able to keep their attention by telling them, what were basically, simple stories. He figured she had to be charming, charismatic, and entertaining for the people she worked with and for and wondered if she was entertaining them because it had something to do with her job.

A story finished and, before another one could be started, everyone at the dining table turned their heads as they heard shuffling footsteps make their way toward the room. Finn grins as he, once again, wonders at how Rachel can be so surly in the morning when she's anything but for the rest of the day.

"Morning Carole, Burt," Rachel mumbled with eyes half closed as she dragged her feet towards the kitchen for her daily dose of caffeine. "Morning Finn. Morning Jessica."

Burt and his mom chuckled and he saw Jessica roll her eyes and shake her head as they watched Rachel walk into the kitchen before the clinking of mugs was heard. As the clinks turned into a quick clatter then silence, Finn could almost see Rachel freeze and drop her mug onto the counter in the middle of preparing her drink.

Rachel's head slowly poked out of the kitchen doorway and her eyes glanced around the room, looking at each person in the room until they settled on Jessica.

"What are you doing here?" Rachel asked as her eyes narrowed.

"It's nice to see you too, Rachel," Jessica said after she sipped at her coffee. "I'm glad to see some things haven't changed."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Of course I'm happy to see you. I just expected some sort of warning before you decide to visit."

Jessica looked over at Carole and said, "That's all the evidence I need."

Carole laughed.

"What evidence?" Rachel asked as she stepped into the dining room. "What are you talking about?"

"The fact that the first words out of your mouth weren't demanding me to take you back to New York is evidence enough that you've changed during your time here," Jessica said as she pulled her handbag off the back of her chair, pulled out her phone, and stood up. "It's time for you to go home."

"Now?"

"Yes, now. Well, today," Jessica said. "You've got an hour to pack before we have to leave."

"But, I need more time—"

Jessica stopped Rachel's complaints by holding up an index finger before she walked into the living room with her phone attached to ear.

"Jessica—," Rachel said before she spun around and looked at Finn. "We need to talk."

"Yea," Finn said. "I guess we do."

After excusing themselves, the pair made their way to the basement and closed the door behind them, knowing that they'd probably need to protection it offered. As if they were following a script, they made their way to opposite sides of the coffee table in the middle of the room and faced each other. Finn stood still except for his gently swaying arms while pretty much all of Rachel's body nervously fidgeted as she wrung her hands.

Finn clenched his jaw as he tried not to think too hard about what he just heard upstairs. With his luck, he should have known this new relationship with Rachel was too good to be true but, for some reason, he held out hope that things would work out between them. Looking at Rachel's face, however, made that hope quickly fade and he figured getting this over with would be the best thing to do.

"What's going on Rachel?"

"I think they're finally letting me go home."

"Yea, no shit." Rachel winced at the curse while Finn gathered himself, blowing out a breath. "What does that mean for us?"

"It doesn't change anything. I still want to be with you."

"Doesn't change anything? Are you insane? This changes everything." He started pacing the length of the coffee table back and forth. "I mean, you'd be in New York and I'd be here."

"You don't have to stay here." She glanced down for a second. "You could come back with me."

"You know I can't do that." Finn stopped pacing at the end of coffee table and faced her. "I've got too many things keeping me here."

"I don't see much of anything keeping you here," she said as she crossed her arms.

"Kurt's tuition. The auto shop. Ring any bells?"

"Neither of those is keeping you here. You can easily help with Kurt's tuition with your poker earnings and I'm sure Burt wouldn't mind hiring someone else to replace you."

"It's not that simple. I _have_ to be here."

Rachel huffed. "The only reason you're staying is some sort of misplaced sense of guilt you have for letting Kurt be bullied while you were in high school."

"That's…" He turned away from her. "That's not why I have to stay."

Rachel pursed her lips. "Then could you please explain to me why you exactly have to stay?"

"Why do I have to change?" Finn asked as he spun around to face her again. "Why can't you stay here?"

"What— That— I—" She took a deep breath and released it. "I have a career back in New York."

"You've already won a Tony, what else can you do on Broadway?" Finn asked as he waved an arm around.

Rachel's jaw dropped. "You think I would quit after appearing in one production and winning one Tony?"

"Why not?"

"Because this is the career that I've always dreamed of having." Rachel said. "I'm not going to give it up for some—" She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.

"Go ahead, say it."

She shook her head.

"Fine, I'll say it for you." He clenched his jaw for a moment. "You're not going to give up your career for some guy you just met." His jaw clenched again. "Is that what you were doing to say?"

"Finn," she said after she dropped her hands to her side. "You have to know that I didn't plan on things happening this way."

"You knew this was going to happen?"

"I didn't know when I would be allowed to go back to New York, but I knew that I would go back one day."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I— I wasn't sure how to tell you and I didn't know when I was going to leave." She looked down for a second. "So I thought I had more time to figure out how to explain things to you."

"Why didn't you just tell me the truth?"

"I didn't know how you'd react."

"Well, now you have a pretty good idea," he spat out as they once again found themselves facing each other across the coffee table. "Don't you?"

"I—Yes, I do. Although," she said as she glared at him. "I might have assumed that you would have realized that I'd be going back to New York since you knew I had a flourishing career back there."

He took a step back and said, "Well, why'd you go out with me if you knew you were going back? Did you figure that I'd be easy to forget about?"

"No, I wanted to date you. I just thought that this would be something I could deal with when the time came." She walked around the table to stand directly in front of him. "And, I don't think I could forget about you if I tried."

"How do I know this isn't all just some sort of act? You're supposed to be a great actress."

"I _am_ a great actress," she said with a glare. "And this isn't an act."

Finn sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "This still doesn't solve our problem."

"I still don't understand why you can't come with me."

"And I still don't understand why you have to go back soon. You said you wanted to be with me."

"I do, but I have obligations back in New York and, while I have enjoyed my time here, I do miss my home."

"You're really gonna choose your city and job over me?"

Rachel narrowed her eyes. "I could ask you the same question and, frankly, we've known each other for a month, so yes, I am choosing my home and career over you."

"You can use that excuse but I can't?"

"I have an actual career. You're just a mechanic and I don't know why you'd want to keep doing that job."

"Why wouldn't I want to?"

"Because you're a mechanic."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you could be doing so much more with your life."

Finn clenched his jaw and looked away.

"I don't understand why you won't try," Rachel said as she fought the urge to stomp her feet.

"Look, it doesn't matter." Finn ran a hand through his hair. "Why are you so pressed about this?"

"Is it so wrong to want everything?"

For the life of him, Finn couldn't explain why he said his next words. Maybe he was tired of having everything good taken away from him. Maybe it was how this thing just broadsided him. Or maybe he even meant it. All he knew was that they tumbled out of his mouth before he even knew what he was saying. "That's pretty fucking selfish of you."

"I'm sorry you feel that way," Rachel said as she froze and her expression went blank. "And I'm sorry things have turned out this way, but it appears we have reached an impasse."

"Yea, I guess we have."

Before Finn could think of anything to try and salvage the conversation, Rachel said, "Then there's nothing left to say but goodbye."

She spun around on her heel marched up the stairs, leaving Finn alone.

* * *

Rachel took one final look around the room she'd called hers for the past month. Frankly, not much would be missed, since it was still basically the room of a college aged boy. The closet space was a disgrace. Nothing in the room matched, aside from the trinkets that she figured Kurt had bought. And she'd be glad to not see a bikini-clad blonde greeting her every morning when she woke up. Speaking of waking up, there was absolutely no way an alarm clock would ever be allowed within a mile of her apartment from now on.

Her eyes darted from the bed towards the small closet. One, an item from the room she would miss and, the other, containing something she would long for. Her eyes went back to the bed and she made a mental note to ask about the brand and model so she could purchase one of her own. It was a shame the other item couldn't be replaced as easily.

"You know what to do right?" she said towards the head of the bed. "This is the last thing I'll ask of you."

With a final look at the closet, she picked up her carry-on bag and walked downstairs where she found Jessica chatting with Carole and Burt in the living room. She walked over to them and gently set her bag down so she could say her goodbyes.

"It was nice meeting you kiddo," Burt said as he shook her hand. "Hope your time with us wasn't all bad."

"Likewise and there was plenty to enjoy," Rachel said with a smile.

Rachel took a step to her left and extended her hand. Carole looked down at her hand and laughed before pulling her into a hug.

"You're always welcome to come back if you need a break from the big city," Carole said into Rachel's ear.

"Thank you," Rachel said. "You don't know how much that means to me."

"Oh, I have a pretty decent idea. And I'm happy and proud that you turned out to be such a bright and vibrant woman and I know your dads are too." Carole pulled away from the hug, wiped away a tear from Rachel's cheek, and smiled. "Even if there have been some bumps along the way."

Rachel grinned and pulled Carole back into a hug.

"Now," Carole said as she pulled away again. "Where is that son of mine?"

"It's alright," Rachel said. "We've already said our goodbyes."

"That doesn't matter. I know I raised him to be better than this."

"It's really alright Carole. We wouldn't have much to say to each other in any case." Rachel picked up her bag. "Plus, I'm sure we need to get going, right Jessica?"

"_Now_ she wants to be on time," Jessica said as she shook her head.

Rachel rolled her eyes and, along with Jessica, said a final goodbye to her hosts. While Jessica walked towards the front door, Rachel's eyes darted to the basement door and lingered for a second before she took a deep breath, let it out, and followed her manager. Choices had been made and she was certainly not going to start dwelling on her decisions now.

Her Louboutins clicked on the hardwood floor of the foyer and Rachel Berry stepped through the front door of the house for the last time.

* * *

A/N 2: And so we come to the beginning of the end. See you guys in 2012.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Enough of the Fabang stuff, here's what you all actually want.

* * *

Finn gently tightened the final spark plug, reconnected the cable connecting it to the engine, and cleaned his hands on the rag hanging from his pocket. As expected, the engine fired up when the key was turned and he listened to it run for a while, waiting to see if there was a problem with the new spark plugs that he installed. Seeing and hearing that there was no problem he killed the engine and closed the hood.

There wasn't much time before lunch and, so there was no point in starting a new job and Finn took a seat behind the desk in the office while waiting for Puck. He quickly realized that this was a terrible idea since he was left alone with just his thoughts and like they had for the past week, they invariably went to one Broadway star. This also meant he invariably wondered what she was up to. The only problem with this was the fact that she was a Broadway star and that meant it was way too easy to find out what she was up to.

When he first discovered what she did for a living, all he had time for was a quick five minute search. Then they had gotten together and did whatever it was that they did and it didn't really matter what she had done or what she was like back in New York. Now, when it absolutely didn't matter how her life was going, he had all the time in the world to stew about it. After the first time he checked a half a dozen Broadway news sites, he promised himself that would be the last time he did it. He made that same promise after the second, fifth, and sixteenth time too.

And as he opened the laptop sitting on the office desk, he was pretty sure that he was making that same promise for the hundredth time now and this time he was really, really going to keep it. Really, he was. He fired up the internet browser, quickly typed her name into Google, and found out there were things he didn't want to know about her. The title of the first news result didn't make him want to read it, but there was just no way he could stop himself from clicking on it.

Rachel Berry and Co-Star, Jesse St. James, Back On?

The rollercoaster ride of a relationship between Rachel Berry and her _Spring Awakening_ co-star, Jesse St. James, appears to be on the upswing again as they were spotted entering Per Se hand in hand for dinner early yesterday night.

This sighting comes a mere week after Berry was spotted back in New York after a month long absence, which her manager described as personal time off. Though rumor has it, the theatre company forced her to take time off after her incidents during and after the Tony Awards, but not even unnamed sources will confirm that.

The tipsy pair stumbled their way out of one of the finest restaurants in New York a few hours later with Ms. Berry hanging onto Mr. St. James as if her life depended on it, once again proving true the Tony Award winner's reputation of enjoying the finer things in life.

Course, there's no telling if this version of their relationship will last, but who knows? Maybe the tenth time's the charm. All this writer knows is that _Spring Awakening_ fans must be jumping for joy because their favorite couple is back together.

Finn reread the article for no other reason than to get as much info as possible, not that there was much, about Rachel because it sure as hell didn't make him happy to read. The photos taken by the paparazzi didn't help either since they showed big, bright smiles on both of their faces as they made their way into the restaurant. The video on the side of the page showing Rachel giggling and Jesse laughing as they left the place and got into a cab definitely didn't help.

He was watching the video for the third time when a flying pen nearly took out his eye, making him look up from the laptop.

"You looking at porn?" Puck asked.

"Fuck you dude."

"Then what the fuck are you looking at?" Puck walked over and grabbed the screen, stopping Finn from slamming it shut. "Dude, are you really looking at this? What is your—"

"Jesus F. Christ," Santana said as she walked into the office. "What is taking you two pussies so long?"

"Nothing." Puck slammed the screen shut, almost crushing Finn's fingers, before punching Finn on the arm. "We were just getting up."

Santana glared at them, looking as though she didn't believe a damn word that came out of Puck's mouth and then jutted her chin out at the laptop. "You closed that pretty quick."

"We were getting up," Finn said, because Puck knowing about what he was looking at was one thing. Santana finding out about it was completely different.

She kept looking at them like she didn't believe them, then a grin broke out and she said, "Porn right?"

"Yea, that's right," Puck said as he walked away from Finn. "When does Quinn get back?"

"Why?" Santana smirked. "Gonna fail at getting into her pants again?"

"No. I'm fucking sick of eating lunch with you," Puck said as he walked out of the office.

Santana smacked Puck upside the head as he walked past her then turned to look at Finn and raised an eyebrow. "Move it. I'm hungry." And as Finn walked by her she said, "And don't think I don't know what you were looking at. That bitch dropped you like a bad habit. You need to do likewise."

"I wasn't looking for news on Rachel."

"Please," she said as she gave him a withering stare. "I'm not fucking stupid. You've got that same dumb look on your face when you knew you did something retarded and were trying to hide it from Quinn."

"No, I don't."

Santana rolled her eyes. "You may think you're all hot shit thanks to poker, but don't forget who you're talking to."

"I know who I'm talking to, which is why I know you don't fucking care."

"Fuck you Finn," she spat out as she glared at him, right before she walked out of the office.

He deserved that. He knew she cared about her friends and he was one of her oldest. She just had a hard time showing anything that resembled kindness. Her bitching was her own special way of showing that she cared about people which he just threw back in her face.

_God, he was being a giant asshole_, he thought to himself. People said he was pretty mean back when Lisa dumped him and he kinda believed them after they told him some of the shit he pulled. There wasn't any reason not to after he had stopped moping around.

This time he didn't think he was moping around —it might have had something to do with the fact that he wasn't also dealing with a ruined football career this time around — but apparently that asshole part of him was coming out again.

He rubbed his face as he walked out of the office and almost crashed into Santana as she stood there, tapping her foot and with a look on her face that was daring him to run her over.

"Hey San."

"Douchebag."

"Sorry about what I just said."

"Whatever," she said as she walked out.

He quickly caught up with his long legs. "I was looking at stuff on Rachel."

"No shit."

"She's back with Jesse now."

"Do I look like I care?"

"No, but—"

"Look, I don't give a rat's ass about who's she's banging now. I just want to make sure you don't turn all emo again because that shit ain't cool and I don't want to deal with it again."

He made sure not to stick his foot into his mouth by saying she'd be back at Ohio State in a month and wouldn't have to deal with it all that much.

"I don't even know why you're pining for her and shit. You knew her for a month and dated for a week. I mean did you two even bang?"

"Does that matter?"

Santana shrugged. "No, not really." She smirked. "But at least you woulda been able to tap that hot piece of ass."

"Santana…"

"What? She's hot."

The conversation stopped as Finn and Santana slowly made their way to the deli since Puck had left them behind. The silence didn't bother Finn since Santana was so much like a dude and he would have been fine walking the rest of the way without speaking again, but he really didn't have anyone else to talk to about this stuff. He didn't want to sit around and stew about it like with Lisa and he usually talked with Quinn about things like this but she was off on her family vacation and her dad didn't want her to spend all of it on her phone, so Santana was pretty much it. It wasn't exactly the best situation.

"I know we only knew each other for a month, but something was different with her, you know? It's like…" He shrugged. "I don't really know how to explain it."

When she didn't say anything, he figured that she didn't have anything to say to him because Santana always spoke her mind and he was fine with that since he just needed to talk. So he was surprised when she said, "I get it. I can't really explain me and B either." She shrugged. "We just…are. We just fit together. And get your head out of the gutter."

They took a few more steps before Santana spoke up again.

"If that's what she really is to you, you should go after her. I know your ass has the money. You're a fucking baller compared to the rest of us."

"She doesn't feel the same way. I mean she got back with Jesse after a week."

"Oh please, those two break up every other week to date other people. That shit ain't real."

"What if it is?"

"What if it isn't?" He looked at her and she rolled her eyes. "Anyway, enough of this shit. We sound like a pair of chicks."

"Uh, Santana?"

"What?"

"You are a chick."

They both laughed before she punched him on the arm and said, "Fuck you. You're buying me lunch."

* * *

_Goodbye  
__Should be saying that to you by now, shouldn't I?_

Rachel drummed her fingers along with the beat of the song as she stared out the window of the little café she was in, waiting for her lunch companion. It was raining, again. It had rained almost every day since she returned from Lima and she might have thought she was in some romantic comedy if she didn't know any better. Some heavy-handed director would have used the rain as a metaphor for the sadness in her heart, but she did know better. The meteorologists said there was a low pressure system sitting on top of the Tri-State area that showed no signs of moving anytime soon, so she was pretty sure she wasn't in some deity's idea of a movie.

_And I tell myself to let the story end  
__That my heart will rest in someone else's hand_

The rain was the one thing that made it hard to pick out tourists from New Yorkers —this was one of her favorite pastimes — as they walked past the café. Tourists were usually easy to spot since they were always looking up at the skyscrapers towering over them. Now she had to look for people walking around aimlessly which a true New Yorker would never do. This took much more effort than she wanted to spend right now.

_Ooh, how am I gonna get over you?  
__I'll be alright, just not tonight  
__But someday_

She looked down, checked her watch, and remembered why she was late to almost everything. She always hated waiting for other people.

_Oh, I wish you'd want me to stay  
__I'll be alright, just not tonight  
__But someday_

Tiring of playing her people-watching game, she noticed herself nodding her head and drumming her fingers to whatever song that was playing throughout the café. Thinking that an upbeat and happy song would be a temporary reprieve from her thoughts and feelings, she began to pay attention to the lyrics and quickly wished that she hadn't.

_But no more  
__I won't beg to buy a shot at your back door  
__If I'm aching at the thought of you, what for?  
__That's not me anymore_

Whatever singer/songwriter decided to set these awful lyrics to such an upbeat melody should have their instruments taken away and banned from every recording studio in the world. The worst part about the song was that those awful, awful lyrics were making too much sense and hitting too close to home.

"Sorry I'm late," Jessica said as she dropped her things onto the extra chair of the table.

"You should be. I have been forced to sit here and listen to this awful song."

Jessica sat down and cocked her head, listening to the music. "This song's pretty good and I'm surprised that you got here before me. I'm usually the one who has to wait for you."

"That's because I usually have important things to do."

"And I don't?"

"What's more important for you than meeting your best and favorite client for lunch?"

Jessica sighed and pulled out a Moleskine notebook and pen. "Finally ready to talk about that—"

"No, not that."

"Of course not." The pen paused right above the page. "Then what would you like to talk about?"

"Nothing. I can't just want to eat lunch with you?"

"And when have you ever wanted to do that without asking me for something?" Jessica put away the notebook. "Plus, it feels like you've been avoiding me ever since you got back from Lima."

A glare was shot at Jessica. "I have not been trying to avoid you and I can fire you, you know that right?"

"Promises, promises," Jessica said with a grin.

The waitress came by to take their order before Rachel could mouth off a reply. They made small chat, mostly about rumors on current Broadway productions and what fashion accessories had caught their eyes, as they ate their respective salads and soups.

"So, why did you really want to have lunch with me?" Jessica asked as she sipped on her coffee.

"We've barely seen each other in the two weeks since I got back and I felt like seeing you." Rachel shrugged and took a sip of tea. "Is that so hard to imagine?"

"Yes, it kind of is."

Rachel gasped then laughed and was quickly joined by Jessica. It felt good to laugh this hard because it seemed like she hadn't done it since she arrived back in New York.

"I looked at the numbers; your little thing with Jesse seems to be working."

"Of course it's working. When have I ever come up with a plan that hasn't worked?"

Jessica stared at Rachel. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

"Of course not," Rachel said as she rolled her eyes. "It was rhetorical."

"Of course it was." Jessica took another sip of coffee. "He doesn't mind being a part of this plan of yours?"

"No, he sees the reason behind it and agrees with me."

"You two are—"

Rachel's phone interrupted them. She pulled it out of her handbag and checked who was calling then shoved it back inside.

"Who was that?"

"The devil we were speaking of."

"Didn't feel like talking to him?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Just because we're doing this… thing together doesn't mean I want or need to speak with him every day."

Jessica shrugged and sipped at her coffee then said, "So, what happened in Lima?"

"See, this is why I've been avoiding you."

"Thought you said you weren't avoiding me?"

Rachel rolled her eyes and turned her head to look through the window again. She heard Jessica sigh and the rustling of a handbag told her that her manager had found something to do, like she always did when Rachel pulled something like this. Rachel knew she was being childish but sometimes there was no helping that part of her personality, so she stared out the window while Jessica did whatever she was doing.

"How long have you been with Josh?" Rachel asked, breaking the silence but still looking out of the window.

Rachel heard what sounded like a newspaper being closed before the answer came.

"Two years, five months, and twenty-four days. And if I think about it a little, I could give you the hours and minutes."

"No thank you," Rachel said as she rolled her eyes.

"Why'd you wanna know?"

Even though she knew Jessica was waiting for a response, Rachel fell silent again as she continued to stare out of the window because she didn't know why she asked that question. Her imagination told her that Jessica rolled her eyes before the rustling of pages said that Jessica had gone back to whatever it was she was doing.

Rachel finally turned to look at Jessica again and asked, "You love him right?"

Jessica put down what turned out to be a magazine and gave her a look.

"You're right, that was an idiotic question."

Jessica picked up her magazine again.

"It's just that I don't think I've ever been in love, but I'm constantly singing and listening to songs about the subject when I have no clue about the first thing about love and I've realized that this is really strange."

"Mmm hmm."

"It's just that— How do you know when you're in love?"

The magazine was placed back on the table.

"You know those songs you sing and listen to?"

Rachel nodded.

"They all start to make sense."

* * *

Finn cracked open another can of beer as he watched the baseball game. Not that it mattered but the Indians were losing, again.

"How are we doing?" Burt asked as he came in with his own can of beer.

"The usual, down by three."

"At least they're consistent."

Finn raised his beer. "Here's to consistency." Burt raised his own beer and they both took a long drink from their cans.

The rest of the game went same way, with the Tigers getting a scare in the seventh inning, giving the Indians one of their many losses for the season. Burt asked him to flip the TV over to ESPN to catch up on the other games before calling it a night.

"Are we still meeting with that parts supplier tomorrow?" Finn asked.

"Yea, if you're up for it."

"I am."

"You're gonna have to wear something nicer than your coveralls."

Finn grunted in acknowledgement.

"By the way, what's with the sudden interest in the business side of things?"

"Dunno, I guess I figured I should be learning about this stuff."

"Huh."

They watched the highlights of the Yankees and Red Sox crushing the teams they played and Finn wondered for the thousandth time what it'd be like to root for a team that didn't suck every year.

"Finn, you sure you want to learn about the business side of things?"

"Yea, why wouldn't I? I mean, I can't just be working on cars forever. I need to learn about how to actually run the shop."

"I might be overstepping here, but I never thought that's what you wanted to do."

"Why wouldn't I want to do it? It's a good living and, like, it feels nice to do things with your hands."

"Hey," Burt said after he chuckled. "I'm not knocking it. It's an honest job and it's putting Kurt through college, but I never thought it's what you wanted to do."

"So, it's good enough for you but not for me?"

"Whoa, that's not what I'm saying. Even though we never talked about these kinds of things — and I get why we haven't — I always thought you wanted to get out of Lima."

"Mom loves it here and you love it here. I can't love this town too?"

Burt took a drink of beer as if he needed to gather his thoughts. "I'm sure you love this place as much as the rest of us, but if me and your mom live out the rest of our lives without leaving this area too much we'd be just fine. I think you're different. I think you've got bigger dreams than living your entire life in Lima."

Finn drained whatever was left in his can. "What if… what if I can't make those dreams happen?"

"Finn, you're a lot of things: a hard worker, a good mechanic, a heck of a football player, and from what I hear a damn good poker player, but I'm pretty sure you're not a quitter." Burt finished off his beer and stood up. "Don't forget a nice shirt for tomorrow morning."

They said their goodnights, leaving Finn sitting on the couch to wonder what the hell that conversation was about. Well, he knew what the conversation was about; he just had no clue why Burt would bring that stuff up now. It wasn't like he was doing anything different besides asking to be included in the business stuff because he was already doing pretty much everything else in the shop.

He needed a nice shirt. This was why he was standing in front of the closed door to his old room wondering why he was being such a coward. He hasn't been in this room since she left because he never had a reason to go in and because she left. Now, he has a reason to go in and he was pretty sure he was a dumbass for not keeping any nice clothes in the basement.

He shoved the door open and the first thing that he noticed was how neat the bed was made, probably neater than how Kurt left it. The second thing he noticed was the fruity smell of her shampoo and body wash filling the room. This made him hurry over to the window and throw it open because, just, no. The third thing he noticed was a stuffed monkey sitting on top of an envelope in between the two pillows at the head of the bed.

The ratty condition of the monkey told him it was the one he gave her all those years ago, not the new one from July 4th. Ever since she told him the story about how she got this thing, he'd been racking his mind to remember his side of it. Annoyingly, he could barely remember his mom crying back then, much less some random little girl he didn't know at the time.

Whatever.

The envelope has his first name written in elegant cursive and there's no question as to who it's from. For a second, he thought about throwing the envelope away but really, there was no way he would ever do that. That didn't mean he was in any hurry to rip it open and find out what was inside because anything in there was probably bad news, so he sat on the bed tossing the stuffed animal back and forth between his hands.

He kept doing that until the monkey was fumbled and dropped to the bed and as soon as that happened he lunged across the bed to snatch the envelope from its place. Happily, he found it unsealed and pulled out the, perfectly folded, letter from inside. The letter was written with the same elegant cursive and his eyes picked up bits and pieces of the letter as he skimmed over it, putting off actually reading the damn thing. But he couldn't put it off forever, so he started to read.

xxx

Finn,

While we didn't leave on the best of terms, I wanted to let you know I enjoyed my time with you in Lima and I hope you did as well. I won't rehash the argument we had because I would like to you to remember me as fondly as I'm sure I will remember you.

I will leave you with this thought: Burt and Carole believe in you, all of your friends believe in you, Mr. Schue and Coach Beast believe in you, in fact, everyone who I have talked to believes in you, and I believe in you. The only person who doesn't believe in you is you.

Finally, you may have noticed that I have returned the stuffed animal you once gave me because I have come to the conclusion that someone at my age should no longer need it.

Wishing you well on all of your future endeavors,

Rachel

xxx

He finished reading the letter and saw that the elegant cursive slowly got sloppier and sloppier near the end. He was sure that she had cried as she wrote the end of the letter because there were small, wrinkled spots on the paper where her tears fell and it made him feel like shit.

Rereading the letter doesn't help, but he did it anyway, especially the part where she wrote about people who believed in him. He doesn't know when he stopped believing in himself, but he figured it was probably when his football career was over. He also doesn't understand why he stopped believing in himself. It wasn't like his leg just stopped working and even if it had, Artie wasn't moping around and he had two legs that didn't work.

Finn rubbed his face, got up, and closed the window. Tucking the stuffed monkey under his arm, he grabbed a dress shirt from his closet and felt even shittier when he realized that Rachel hadn't taken one of his shirts home with her.

Later on that evening after a shower, he sat in front of his laptop playing poker in the basement while the TV was on ESPN. He lost a few hands then won a few more when heard the familiar sound of a World Series of Poker episode come from the TV. It was a rerun of the Main Event, the biggest poker tournament in the world, where thousands of players from around the world played for millions of dollars. This episode was of the Final Table which he was happy about because he wasn't able to catch it when it premiered thanks to all the crap of the past month.

As he watched and listened to the episode, he played fewer and fewer hands of poker and eventually just logged out of the game. He'd never really paid attention to who the actual players were when he watched these things unless they were famous players, but tonight he did. Eight of the nine players at the finale table were around his age and all of them had gotten their starts in online poker. When the last man standing was some guy who was exactly his age, Finn scrolled through the contacts on his phone while logging back into his account.

He found the person he was looking for and called them.

"Dude, it's me."

He clicked over to his account info.

"Yea, I know it's late but I gotta ask you for a favor."

Then to his balance info.

"Oh, how much is your tuition for next semester?"

Finn raised his eyebrows and said, "That much?"

He cradled the phone with his shoulder so he could type the amount he just heard into the balance transfer page and clicked okay.

"No, that wasn't the favor." He waited until the he got the transfer notice email before logging out again and closing the laptop.

"I'm coming to New York and I need a place to crash."

* * *

A/N 2: The song that plays in the café is "Gonna Get Over You" by Sara Bareilles.

And here I was just kidding about the Moonlighting curse. Shows what I know.

By the way, I'm getting real sick of this site removing my formatting.


	15. Chapter 15

The cotton pad paused midway through its trip over Rachel's face, leaving make-up covering half of her face. The pad had paused because tears had started to stream down her cheeks which made her angry with herself. There was absolutely no reason to be crying just because she saw a ghost making its way out of the theatre as soon as the house lights went up, even if that ghost had resembled someone she vowed stop making her sad. She decided that three weeks was much too long to be pining for some man, not that her heart had paid her mind any attention.

A tissue was ripped out of the box sitting on her make-up vanity so her tears could be dried before the rest of her stage make-up was removed. With a sigh, she began to put on the make-up she normally wore because she had seen the photos of celebrities who went out in public without any on and decided there was no way those types of pictures would be taken of her.

There was a knock on her door while she was putting on the finishing touches and she heard someone say, "Rachel."

"Yes?"

"Our adoring fans are waiting for us. Are you ready to meet them?"

Rachel sighed and wondered for the thousandth time what she had ever seen in the man outside her door. Superficially, he was the perfect boyfriend: handsome, a fine actor, and a wonderful vocalist. However, even before her trip to Lima she had an inkling that his personality left much to be desired. Her trip there had only confirmed what she probably already knew deep down in her heart.

If the only thing she received from her trip to Lima was clear understanding of how poor her previous relationships were, the forced vacation would have been well worth it but she had also discovered how amazing a good relationship could be and would now no longer settle for anything less. The next to constant knocking on her door only confirmed her feelings.

After grabbing her handbag and wrapping a thin scarf around her neck, she opened the door and came face to face with Jesse who didn't look all too happy at being forced to wait for her.

"Glad to see you're finally ready."

Rachel rolled her eyes, closed her dressing room door, and strode past Jesse, leaving him to catch up with her.

"Just because we're going through this charade does not mean I have to put up with your attitude," she said when he caught up with her.

"We can put an end to it tonight then."

"You know about the benefits of continuing this as well as I do."

"Ah Rachel, ever the pragmatist."

"You talk as though you aren't one as well."

Jesse chuckled. "We are very alike. It's why we work so well together."

Rachel scoffed. "We're professional, that's why we work so well together."

"Rachel." He flung his arm across her shoulders. "I'm not sure I like this new you. You're a lot less fun."

Shrugging his arm off, she stepped away from him and hurried towards the exit. She could feel him rolling his eyes at her, but she didn't care. If they weren't on stage or in the public eye, she wanted as little to do with him as possible which she had made abundantly clear. Not that he cared which, if she thought about it, was disturbingly similar to how she might have reacted two months ago. She probably would react the same way right now, but she tried not to think about that.

It was too bad they were in this charade because she hated that she was being forced to wait for him at the doors of the rear entrance. He knew she wanted to leave because he was taking his sweet time walking to the exit with a smirk on his face.

"Shall we?" he asked as he extended his arm for her to take.

She sighed and, since there was no way around it, placed her hand on top of her arm as lightly as possible. With her other hand, she prepared to open the doors and waited for Jesse to do likewise and when he did, she plastered a smile on her face and pushed the doors open with him. Waves and waves of cheers and applause washed over them from the people who had patiently waited for them and wait they did, for they were the stars of the show and were always the last ones to come out.

They bowed and waved towards the crowd before he kissed her on the cheek and they walked down to the metal barricade keeping the crowd back. Playbills and programs were thrust in their direction and they pulled out the pens they always carried with them for things like this. Jesse randomly signed things for five people as he always did. After his cursory autograph session, he kissed Rachel on the lips and smiled at her, an expression which she mirrored, before he waved to the crowd and left.

Two months ago, Rachel would have joined him, but now she took more time to sign things and talk with people after each show. She didn't sign every little thing because it wasn't as though she suddenly enjoyed doing this, but she understood that this made people happy and it didn't cost her anything so she did it. Plus, this gave her an excuse to be fashionably late to the after-parties she no longer really looked forward to with the same enthusiasm.

A familiar high-pitched voice rang out from the crowd while she was in the middle of signing things and, looking over, she saw Kurt standing next to the barricade, looking none too pleased at being pushed up against it by the crowd. She quickly finished signing the program in her hand before walking over to where Kurt was standing, which didn't help his situation at all since it just brought more people to his section.

"Kurt, what are you doing here?"

"Seeing your show, of course."

"You have told me you wanted to come, I would have gotten you tickets," she said as she grabbed someone's program to sign. "Who should I make this out to?"

"Angela," said the giddy fan.

Rachel signed the program, "To Angela Love, Rachel Berry," handed it back, and flashed a bright smile at the fan.

"I would have asked for tickets but we did forget to exchange contact information before I left."

Rachel gasped. "We should correct that mistake. Do you have time to grab a drink after this?"

Kurt looked at the man beside him who shrugged and smiled. "I'll always have time to grab a drink with the great Rachel Berry. Oh." He gestured to the same man. "This is my boyfriend, Blaine."

"Nice to meet you," she said as she shook his hand. "Did you enjoy the show?"

"It was great and you were fantastic," Blaine said.

"Thank you." She signed a Playbill for someone named Ruth. "I know this café that would be perfect."

"A café does sound perfect," Kurt said.

"Let me sign a few more things then we can go."

Rachel signed a few more programs before she asked, "Did you win the ticket lottery again?"

"No," Kurt said. "We got our very good tickets through other means."

There was something in the way that Kurt said that sentence which gave Rachel a funny feeling in the bottom of her stomach and made her glance around the crowd at well above her natural eye level.

"Looking for something?"

"No. No." She shook her head. "I just had a funny feeling."

Kurt grinned. "Careful, those can be dangerous things."

"I know." She looked down to sign something else. "I dislike getting that feeling. It always leads to…"

Rachel fell silent and her heartbeat raced away as she felt a large presence from across the barricade. It was Finn. It had to be him.

It wasn't Finn.

It was just some guy who happened to be tall and wanted an autograph for his girlfriend, which Rachel not so willingly provided. She knew it was insane to blame this random person for not being the one she actually wanted to see. Even worse was the fact that she knew she'd never see him again and yet she still hoped that it would happen. She hated this feeling.

"Not that I don't enjoy standing here watching you sign things," Kurt said. "But when are we going to that café of yours? Some of us have to wake up early tomorrow to sew things until their fingers fall off."

Rachel rolled her eyes at the dramatics but she grinned as well because that was just how Kurt was. She glanced up and saw a sea of people still waiting behind the barricade and knew there was no way she could get to them all, but a few more couldn't hurt. "Let me sign a few more then we can go."

Trying to get through as many as possible before leaving, she kept her head down and barely glanced at the people she was signing things for. She got through three more before Kurt started to click his tongue and she decided to sign a few more because she was stubborn and disliked being forced to do anything.

"Who should I make this out to?"

"Karen."

Playbill signed and given back, she grabbed another.

"Who should I make this out to?"

"Your favorite Neanderthal."

Her pen slid across the program, leaving a trail of ink, before she looked up at him. There was a look on her face that he couldn't read and her only reaction so far didn't give him very much confidence in the fact that she actually wanted to see him again. Her looking down again didn't help either.

"I— I ruined your program."

"That's okay, I bought a few extras," he said as he rummaged through his bag before handing her another one.

She looked up again. "You were here tonight?"

"Yea, watched it with Kurt and Blaine."

"That was you rushing out!"

"Thanks for the tickets by the way," Kurt said.

He nodded. "Yea, I kinda stick out and didn't want you to see me yet."

"I— Do you still want me to sign this?"

"Yea, I'd like that."

"To my favorite Neanderthal?" she asked with a small grin.

"If you don't mind."

She signed the new program with a bit of a flourish and handed both back to him. He looked down at the signature and grinned. It was exactly what he asked for.

She started to ask, "What are you—"

But he cut her off. "Can we go somewhere to talk?"

"I'm grabbing a drink with Kurt after this."

Finn looked over at his step-brother. "I'm sure he won't mind if you guys do it some other time."

She looked over at Kurt and opened her mouth to speak.

"I'll take a rain check," Kurt said as he started to pull Blaine away from the barricade. "Don't forget to have my oaf of a brother give you my information."

"So," Finn said. "Coffee?"

* * *

Silence from certain people was a good sign. From others, it was a sign of indifference. And as he had learned, silence from Rachel was a bad sign.

He didn't want to say what he had to say while walking to the café. Plus, he could barely believe how many people were walking the streets of New York at this time of night and was having a hard time making his way through the crowds. Rachel, on the other hand, easily weaved her way past people who were walking slower like it was the most natural thing in the world.

She didn't want him to say what he had to say before they received their orders because she didn't want this conversation to be interrupted. So they waited until they had their drinks in front of them, her tea and his coffee, and it was an unnerving wait with her staring through the window next to them, glancing at him every so often.

"So, um, I liked your show," he said the moment the waitress left. "I'm glad you were my first."

This finally caused her to look at him for more than a moment.

"Your first?"

"My first Broadway show."

"Oh." She looked down at her tea. "I'm glad I was your first."

"You were amazing."

She looked up and smiled. "Thank you."

"I… I just can't believe you get naked on stage every night."

Her eyes narrowed. "It's for the performance."

"Wait, I get that. I'm not saying—"

"Can we just talk about whatever it is you want to talk to me about?"

Finn looked down and sighed. "Yea, I read the letter you left me."

"Then you know I have nothing else to say."

"Yea, I know." He looked up again. "I just wanted to tell you something."

He took a sip of his coffee and she of her tea.

"Oh, first I have something for you." He rummaged through his bag and pulled out her stuffed monkey which he held out to her.

"George!" she yelled, leaping out of her seat. She paused halfway from standing up then slinked back down into her seat.

Finn grinned and asked, "George?"

She glared at him. "What else do you expect a child to name a monkey?"

Finn chuckled and shook his head. "No, that makes sense. It's perfect actually."

She reached for the stuffed animal but pulled her hand back. "I don't need him anymore."

"I know, but I want you to have him. Plus, it's been over fifteen years now, so I think he's way more used to you. Be kinda cruel to rip him away from you now."

"I—" She accepted the stuffed animal and clutched it to her chest. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said with a smile.

They sipped on their respective drinks for a bit until Rachel broke the silence.

"I need to tell you something. I'm not actually—"

"Wait, lemmie go first." And before Rachel could respond Finn pushed forward and said, "I wanted to tell you that what you said in your letter was right. I don't believe in myself, at least for the big things, but I wanna change that."

"That's good." Rachel smiled. "I'm glad."

"Um, also, I'm sorry for what I called you."

"As you should be."

Finn chuckled. "I didn't want things to change. I was stupid and selfish. You shouldn't have stayed; the world would've lost something amazing if you couldn't be on stage anymore."

She grinned. "I know."

"So, um, I'm leaving Lima. Probably gonna move out to Las Vegas or Los Angeles so I can start playing poker regularly and see how that goes."

"Why those cities?"

"They're the best poker scenes in the country."

"Oh."

"So yea…"

She looked disappointed as she said, "That's all you have to say?"

He thought back to the smile on her face after Jesse kissed her and said, "Yea."

For some reason her head dropped. Finn didn't know what to do with that or her silence, so he shifted in his seat for a bit before pulling out his wallet and dropping enough money on the table to cover their drinks and said, "So I guess—"

"What about New York?"

"What about New York?" he repeated, emphasizing a different word in the question.

"How's the poker scene in New York?"

"Um, it's not bad I guess, close to some big casinos and I'm sure there are underground games. Plus, there's always online poker."

"Maybe…" She looked up at him. "Maybe you could move out here?"

Finn gaped at her for a moment until a crooked smile appeared on his face. "Maybe I will." He reached across the table and intertwined his fingers in hers. "Wait, what about Jesse?"

"What about him?"

"Aren't you two dating again?"

"Only in public."

"Wait, what?"

"The attendance for the production has been flagging and we needed to bring more attention to it so Jesse and I agreed that appearing to date would be the best and easiest way to do it."

"You're kidding right?"

Rachel shook her head. "It's been working. Attendance has risen since our charade began."

"I don't think I'll ever understand the Broadway world."

"I have to admit it is a strange world to live and work in."

"So, you two really aren't dating?"

"No."

"What about that kiss before he left?"

"It's called acting. You don't think what we do on stage every night is real do you?"

"No." He scratched his head. "Why didn't you tell me about this first?"

"I tried, but you cut me off and then I had to listen to you go on and on about all those things."

He smiled and shook his head.

"Do you believe me about Jesse?" she asked.

"I do."

"Good." She smiled and squeezed his hand. "Then I have a very important question for you."

"Oh yea?"

"Yes. Well, now that I think of it, it's more like a statement." She squeezed his hand again and her smiled took on a more mischievous look. "You better have brought me one of your shirts to wear."

Finn laughed.

"I'm not kidding," she said with a glare.

"I know you're not and that's why I lo—" His mouth froze as his brain caught onto what it was trying to say. "Like. That's why I like you."

Rachel smiled. "I think I like you too."

* * *

A/N: So the main plot of the story is finished and I don't know if I'm happy with it.

There will be an epilogue of fluff coming in a few days as well as a longer author's note to close out the story. Thanks for reading this almost year-long (!) project.


	16. Chapter 16: Epilogue

The pitter-patter of a pair of small, sock encased feet approaching caused her lips to lift into a smile, just like they did when she heard them for the first time, the third time, and the hundredth. She would never be tired of hearing it.

"Mommy?"

The sauce in front of her was stirred. "Yes sweetie?"

"Can I have a glass of water?"

A glance away from the sauce she was preparing, down towards her daughter. "Try again."

"Do I have to?"

Another glance downwards. "Yes, you do."

The small face scrunched up in annoyance. "May I have a glass of water, please?"

"Of course you may."

As she opened a cabinet and grabbed a glass, she thought for what had to be the millionth time that he had probably passed down the gene that made their daughter want to bicker with her constantly. It was playful now, but who knew what it would be like when their child grew up. If it was anything like what she was like, she'd have a tornado that loved to argue with her on her hands. Heaven help her.

The glass was filled with water then handed over and the child ran off.

"Juliet Christine Hudson!" The little girl slid to a stop and turned around. "What have I told you about running at home?"

A pout. "Not to?"

"That's right."

"But daddy's going to be back on TV soon!"

Oh yes, he definitely passed that bickering gene down, no doubt about it. Yet another thing to blame on him.

Rachel listened for a moment. "They're in the middle of a commercial, take your time and walk back to the living room sweetie."

Another pout. "Okay."

Her attention returned to the sauce and, after a taste, she added a bit more red pepper then reduced the heat to let it simmer. A pot was filled with water and a handful of salt was added to it, a quick check of her watch told her she had plenty of time to spare, so she left the pot of water unheated and set a pan of ready to be baked garlic bread on the counter. Another glass of water was poured, this time for herself, and she made her way to the living room where she found her daughter sitting Indian style in the middle of the sofa, eyes glued to a commercial, and clutching her old stuffed monkey.

"See? You didn't miss daddy did you?"

"Noooooooooooo, I didn't."

Rachel set her glass down on the table and she took a seat on the sofa which immediately led to Juliet scrambling in-between Rachel's legs as Rachel stretched out one leg along the sofa and the other dangled to the ground.

"Comfy?" she said into her daughter's ear and wrapped her arms around her child as they both leaned back, her into the crook of the armrest and her daughter into her chest and stomach.

"Yes."

A kiss was planted on the top of the head in front of her. "Good."

Their attention was drawn to the television as the World Series of Poker title card was shown and a sultry female voice said, "World Series of Poker. Main Event. Final Table."

Rachel's attention wandered away from the TV as the announcers were shown introducing the final episode, with her memory and the number of times she had seen this she could recite all of their dialogue word for word, for the entire four hours of the final table that was aired, backwards. Juliet, of course, had devoted every bit of attention she had to the television, not even Rachel resting her chin on top of her head could distract her. Rachel couldn't tell if Juliet was more interested in the poker being played or if she just wanted to stare at the man she called daddy. Rachel couldn't blame her one bit if it was the latter.

"Mommy?"

"Yes sweetie?"

"Tell me a story?"

Then again, maybe staring at her daddy over and over again in the same episodes couldn't keep the attention of her daughter.

"A story?"

"Please?"

"Hmm," Rachel said as she rested her chin on her daughter's head. "Hold on. I'm thinking."

"Kay."

A grin appeared on Rachel's face as she pieced together a few thoughts. "Okay. All ready?"

She felt her daughter nod.

"Once upon a time, in a land much like where we live, lived a princess who was very selfish and spoiled. Now, people let her be selfish and spoiled because she was pretty and could sing and it made people happy to watch and listen to her, but people hated to work for her because she was mean to them and only did it because they had to. One day—"

"Why was she so mean to them?"

"I was— _She_ was mean to them because she didn't know any better."

"Why didn't she know any better?"

"She was a spoiled little princess so she never really grew up."

"Oh."

Rachel waited for a beat before she asked, "Can I continue with the story?"

"Yes please."

"Now, one day the princess's fairy godmother sent her to a land far, far away to teach her a lesson. This new land was completely different from her home. Where her home was loud and busy, this land was calm and quiet. The people in this new land were kind, peaceful, and completely unlike the princess. And in this land she met a prince who she was forced to live with. The prince—"

"Was the prince handsome?"

Rachel laughed then said, "Of course he was handsome." She grinned. "He was very handsome, just like daddy. Now, where was I?"

"The pretty princess had to live with the handsome prince that looked like daddy."

"Right. So the princess had to live with the price but from the start they didn't get along. They fought with each other all the time over the smallest things because neither one of them wanted to live with each other."

"They loafed each other!"

"Loafed?"

"Yea, like that movie where you had that funny green stuff on your face."

"Uh…," Rachel said as she puzzled over this. "Oh, you mean loathe."

"Loaf."

"No, it sounds like the word 'the' is at the end."

"They loathed each other?"

"Much better. But yes, they loathed each other and kept loathing each other even after the prince saved the princess's life. The funny thing was the more time they spent with together the more they discovered things about the other that they liked."

"They're gonna fall in love!"

Rachel laughed and said, "They might."

"They will," Juliet said as she nodded.

"The princess also found out that the prince hurt his leg in a war and she made fun of him because he walked with a limp."

Her daughter gasped. "That's mean!"

"I know." Rachel buried her face in the hair in front of her. "It was mean."

"I hope the prince stopped talking to the princess."

Rachel pulled her head back and laughed. "No, the prince wasn't cruel or mean. He forgave her."

"The prince sounds nice, like daddy."

"The prince was very much like daddy."

For the next 20 minutes, Rachel weaved this fairy tale, drawing on her extensive knowledge of musicals, plays, and movies to insert the prince and princess into more and more outrageous situations, much to her daughter's delight. The only thing that could have pulled Juliet's attention away from the story was the front door opening which caused her to pull herself away from Rachel and practically run towards the entrance of the condo.

"Daddy!"

"Hey baby girl." Finn Hudson said as he picked up his daughter.

"Mom! Mom!" Her eldest by a few years appeared from behind Finn, "We saw the best player ever today! I totally wanna be him when I grow up!"

"Do you now?"

"Yea! He has a cannon arm and he's only in high school! He's going to make it to the league one day and I already got his signature!"

A piece of paper with barely legible scrawl was shown to her.

"Better keep it in a safe place then Chris." Her son ran off to his room.

She looked up at Finn. "I take it football camp went well?"

He nodded. "Yea, there's some real talent this year. A lot of them will play major college ball one day and a few might even play in the NFL."

"I'm sure they will if they listen to you."

"Yea, if they listen to me, but all they seem to want to do is talk about the tournament last year."

Rachel smiled up at Finn as he poked his daughter in the side causing her to giggle. "How was your day?"

"It was good! I got to watch you on TV all day!"

A grin was shot at Rachel. "All day huh?"

Rachel rolled her eyes at Finn as their daughter said, "Yep!"

"You and mommy get tired of the monkeys at the zoo?"

"Nooooooooooooooooo," the little girl said as she shook her head. "Mommy told me a story too!"

"A story huh? About what?"

"A prince and a princess. The princess was mean and went to a land far far away and the prince was nice and they went on adventures together and they were falling in love and then you came home and mommy had to stop telling the story."

Finn looked over at Rachel. "A mean princess that met a prince in a far away land huh?"

"What?" Rachel asked innocently.

Finn shook his head and said, "Never mind." He glanced at the TV. "They're showing that again?"

Rachel nodded. "ESPN seems to be devoting an entire channel to last year's World Series."

"Hmm, probably getting people fired up for this year's tournament."

"That's what I thought as well."

Finn kicked off his shoes, took a seat on the sofa, and put Juliet down in-between them.

"We really gonna watch this again?"

"Shhhhhhhhh," came from the little one.

"Guess so." She said with a smile.

"I think our baby girl is going to grow up to be a show-tune singing card shark." He whispered into her ear over the head of their daughter.

"I hope not, Norman Chad would give her some awful nickname like siren or songbird." She whispered back.

"Hey, songbird isn't a terrible nickname."

"I suppose—"

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

They grinned at each other over their daughter's head and he shrugged.

"Aw, not this again. Can't we watch something else?" Chris said as he returned from his room.

"It's almost over." Finn waved Chris over. "Come take a seat next to your old man."

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

Chris shot a glare at his sister before taking a seat on the sofa next to Finn.

"All in." She heard Finn's television twin say.

"If Negreanu calls, this would be it! We would have our 2028 World Champion of Poker!"

Rachel watched as the Daniel Negreanu on TV thought about his choices and even though she knew how it would play out, she couldn't help but get sucked into the moment. The utter silence from the three other people on the sofa told her that they were waiting with anticipation as well.

Negreanu looked down at his chip stack and smiled then chuckled. "Looks like I don't really have a choice, I call."

The two players flipped over their cards, showing that Finn had the best hand which knocked Negreanu out and leaving Finn as the last player standing. Negreanu shrugged in defeat and they both stood up to shake hands, congratulating each other for playing a good game. Negreanu then stepped aside which let Finn raise his arms and scream with joy, mirroring the scream that came from the child in-between her and Finn.

Rachel covered her daughter's mouth and said, "Indoor voice please." When the hand was removed a much quieter scream was released.

On the television, Finn was being awarded his WSOP bracelet by the casino manager, the culmination of almost three weeks of play and proof that he was the best player in the world that year.

"So Finn, how does it feel to be the World Champion of Poker?"

A microphone was held out to Television Finn as he stood and stared at the bracelet in his hands. "I don't know. I can't believe this is happening. I'm just kinda speechless."

The casino manager chuckled. "Is there anything you'd like to quickly say?"

"Yea, I'd like to thank my wife, Rachel, for believing in me and that I love her, Christopher, and Juliet and I wish that they could be here with me!"

"And there you have it, Finn Hudson, winner of a record 11.5 million dollars and 2028 World Champion of Poker!"

As the program ended and the credits began to roll, Rachel grabbed the remote and turned off the television.

"All right, time to get cleaned up and changed. Uncle Kurt and Blaine will be here for dinner soon."

"But I wanna see daddy's bracelet!"

Rachel looked down. "After you get changed sweetie."

"Come on you two." Finn said.

After Finn picked Juliet up and Chris followed them to the bedrooms, Rachel went back to the kitchen and checked on the sauce that she had left simmering. It looked like it had reduced enough and a quick taste told her that it had, so she turned down the heat a bit more. The pot of water was put on high heat and the oven was turned on for the garlic bread, as Rachel continued to prepare for dinner.

Rachel found a freshly changed Juliet with arms up and looking up at her as she reentered the living room. "All right, let's go see daddy's bracelets."

Juliet was picked up and the pair made their way to a shelf by the television that held Finn's three World Series of Poker bracelets, two for smaller events and a larger version for the Main Event he had won last year.

"Daddy's bracelets are much prettier than your trophies."

Rachel gently tapped her head against her daughter's. "Yes they are."

And it was true, compared to the jewel-encrusted, gold World Series of Poker bracelets, her three Tony Awards, one for Best Featured Actress and two for Best Actress, sitting directly behind the bracelets looked downright plain. Of course, Rachel would've liked to explain this by saying that Broadway was a much more sophisticated world than poker, but after a career spanning over three decades and counting, she knew that wasn't true. Plus, she wouldn't have said no to a diamond or two or ten on her awards. But, that probably had something to do with the fact that no one paid $10,000 to compete in the Tony Awards.

"Hey, shouldn't you go get changed too?" Finn asked her as he returned to the living room to come stand next to her.

"Should I?"

"Well, I guess you could always eat dinner in sweatpants and my shirt."

Rachel looked down at the outfit she had on, completely forgetting that she hadn't changed this morning since Juliet decided that their entire day would be spent in the condo watching poker. It wasn't the original shirt that she had first worn all those days ago, that had to be discarded due to wear and tear after a few years, along with a few of the others that she had claimed as sleepwear, but Rachel always slept in one of Finn's shirts no matter what. Even during some of their most heated arguments, she always went to bed in one of his shirts.

"I'm sure no one would mind, but you'd probably have to listen to Kurt's comments all night about how unfitting an outfit it is for a Tony winner."

"I forgot I had these on."

Finn grinned. "I see that spectacular memory of yours is failing in your old age."

A glare was shot at Finn. "You must want to sleep on the sofa tonight."

A half smile. "Well, I did buy a super comfy couch for a reason."

"You must really want to sleep on the sofa tonight."

"You keep saying that, but you never follow through."

"I don't like you very much right now."

"That's okay." He bent down and kissed her cheek. "As long as you still love me."

Rachel grinned. "We'll see about that."

"Can I sleep on the sofa with daddy?"

Rachel laughed and smiled at her daughter who was giving her a questioning look. "No, no one is sleeping on the sofa tonight, sweetie. Mommy and daddy are being silly." She looked back up and caught Finn staring at the awards on the shelf, "Are you sure you don't want to compete this year? You still have time to register."

Finn looked over at her after a moment. "I'm sure; I've never liked spending so much time away from you and the kids year after year and after winning the Main Event last year I'll never have to again."

A confused Rachel looked over at Finn. "What do you mean never?"

Finn returned to staring at the awards. "I've been thinking about giving up tournaments for a while. I mean, it's kinda nice to fly around the world playing poker, but I miss out on so much at home when I'm away."

"It would be nice to have you home the entire year."

He grinned at her. "Miss your handsome husband that much?"

She grinned back. "No, I miss not having to raise two children by myself for weeks at a time." The grin fell off her face. "Wouldn't you miss it?"

He turned his head to look at the awards again. "Yea, a little bit, but I'd still have internet poker and there are still the casinos nearby, plus now that I've taken this assistant coach job I can't be gone for half the year. So, I think it's time to stop running around the world playing tournaments."

After a few more moments of staring at the awards, Finn said, "Come on baby girl, let mommy go get changed."

"Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay."

Rachel let Juliet drop to the ground and their daughter scurried over to the sofa while she started to make her way to her bedroom.

Finn's voice made her pause. "Do you need me to do anything in the kitchen?"

"Could you stir the sauce, put the garlic bread in the oven, and pull out the salad ingredients from the refrigerator?"

He shot a joking glare at her as he walked towards the kitchen. "Is that all?"

She smiled sweetly back at him. "Oh, put the pasta in if the water is boiling."

A few more steps were taken towards the bedroom before she heard Finn say something that brought a smile to her face. "There's way too much red pepper in this!"

Some things would never change and for that, Rachel Berry was grateful.

_The End_

* * *

A/N: Well, that's that. In some ways I'm prouder of this story than my first because I had to struggle, and I mean struggle, through this. Hopefully you enjoyed reading this much more than I did writing it.

Thanks to JannP, sma (you should really sign in before you leave a review), and the rest of the fildos. Thank you to mida212 and her group of friends for the help. Finally, a big thank you to CarmenMauri who seemed to be my own personal cheerleader and without whom I might have not finished this story. Oh yea, and thanks to all those crappy rom-coms I've watched.

Finally, if you care, there's a note in my profile about what I plan to do or not do next.


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